


She's not Banksy. Or is she?

by ThatisneverThat



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, tw: anxiety, tw: physical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 58,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24786334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatisneverThat/pseuds/ThatisneverThat
Summary: 'She had money and fame and yet Jo Smith was completely anonymous. Everything was perfect.Until it wasn't.'Inspired by us all questioning if 13 is Banksy, I decided to make her an anonymous artist. Her perfect life has fallen apart, can a single police officer be the one to save her?
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 139
Kudos: 227





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you read the 'Jane. Jane Smith' series, I absolutely haven't abandoned it. I've got some chapters in the bank! I just had to start this idea off. I hope you enjoy!

Jo Smith had it all. She was an artist at the top of her game with a wife she loved and the perfect job. Her paintings were incredibly popular, yet nobody knew who she was. Her artist name was  _ The Doctor,  _ so to the outside world she was just another woman walking the streets. 

Sometimes she would attend her own events, but nobody knew they were her paintings. She had perfected the art of looking impressed at her own work and asking questions she already knew the answer to - sometimes they got them right too. 

She had money and fame and yet Jo Smith was completely anonymous. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn't. 

One day her wife had left her and the next day her house was burnt to the ground. Jo had a suspicion the two events were linked, but she couldn't prove it. And that was why she now rented a small flat on the other side of town where she could hide away from everything - including her work.  _ The Doctor  _ went silent. 

Sometimes they would talk about her on the news. Why were there no more paintings? Why had this incredible artist disappeared? There were conspiracy theories everywhere ranging from her death to alien abduction. She enjoyed reading the reddit thread at times.

Today was 6 months since it had all happened. In that time Jo had barely left the safety of the flat and definitely hadn't tidied up much. She was daydreaming on the windowsill as usual when there was a knock on the door. That was strange, nobody knocked on her door.

Begrudgingly she left the comfort of her windowsill and walked over to open the door - leaving the chain on at first. She was a little surprised to find a policewoman outside. "Hello officer, how can I help?" Jo let the chain off and opened the door a little further.

"Jo Smith?" Jo nodded to confirm. "I'm sorry to disturb you, my name's PC Khan. Yasmin. We just had a call concerned about your welfare? Apparently your neighbours haven't seen you for 10 days now," she spoke politely. 

"Well, as you can see I am still here. Just don't get out much," she shrugged. 

The officer nodded, but she was looking past Jo and into the depths of the flat. "Mind if I come in? Just need to ask a few questions - usual procedure." 

Jo was a little reluctant, but also not one to argue with the police so she moved to allow the young woman in and then shut the door behind them. She watched as PC Khan walked through her hall and glanced into each room. "Sorry it's a bit of a mess, I'm not great at tidying - never have been. Comes with the territory. Just a hoarder me. Pretty impressive how much stuff I've collected in 6 months when I barely leave the house really." PC Khan smiled politely. "Sorry I'm being proper rude aren't I, can I get you a drink? Tea? I've got biscuits too. Feel free to have a seat - they're clean I promise." 

PC Khan sat on the edge of the sofa, "I'm fine, but thank you. Can I ask why you don't leave the flat?" 

Jo sat on the chair opposite her and shrugged, "just not a very outside person. Don't have much need to."

"What about work?" Yasmin had her notebook open now. Jo wondered what her writing was like - you could tell a lot about a person from their handwriting. 

"I suppose you could say I'm self-employed, but I'm on a bit of a break right now," Jo explained as vaguely as she could.

Truth was she hadn't had any motivation to paint since 'the incident' as she called it. There weren't even any canvases in the flat. All her supplies had been burnt and she didn't bother replacing them. Her agent had hassled her for a while until Jo cut off all contact. 

"What about friends and family?" Yasmin asked when she finished writing.

"Don't have any of them me, too much effort. Prefer to be free and easy," she went vague again. More of a lie this time. She did have friends - at least she had before all this. PC Khan had a slightly sad look on her face now. "Don't you be worrying about me - I'm fine and dandy! Was busy people watching before you arrived - I like to assess their walks and try and decide where they're going. Got yours wrong though - didn't guess it was me you were headed to in such a rush. Kinda assumed someone had been attacked the way you were moving. Maybe my brain is going off," she muttered the last sentence.

PC Khan looked up at her, "to be honest Ms Smith we thought you could have been, or at least in some sort of danger...or worse."

"Oh good so I wasn't completely wrong then. Reassuring," she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as a sign of relief. 

"I have to say I've never met anyone like you Ms Smith," Yasmin smiled. "Do you mind if I take some contact details? One of our welfare officers will need to call you. It's just procedure honestly," she reassured her.

Jo shrugged and gave her phone number and email address. This was all very odd, but PC Khan was nice and she couldn't bring herself to argue with the poor woman. She was only doing her job. 

Eventually they finished up and Yasmin got up to leave. Jo watched as she paused in the doorway before turning around. "If you ever need to chat," she started before pulling out a small card, quickly scribbling on it and handing it over. "You shouldn't be lonely Ms Smith. Reach out to someone - even if it's not us." With that she left.

Only then did Jo look at the card in her hand. The front was just the police station information, but on the back was a phone number and a note.

_ Don't be alone Jo, _

_ Yasmin.  _

* * *

_ 90 minutes previous _

Yasmin Khan was fed up of dealing with parking disputes. She had been begging for a different job for weeks, but didn't expect this to be it. 

Someone had phoned from a block of flats on the outskirts of the city centre. It wasn't a troublesome area so Yasmin rarely went here on the job, but apparently a woman was concerned that her neighbour hadn't been seen for a while. She hadn't done a welfare check since training, but something still felt odd about this one. 

Usually they were older people and they would find them fallen in the kitchen, but this was a 31 year old female. The woman who phoned didn't know much except her name and that she hadn't been seen. This was almost more worrisome than the old dears. 

Yasmin parked up opposite the flats and made her way inside thanks to someone leaving as she arrived. She found the right flat after climbing a ridiculous number of stairs (definitely should've taken the lift) and knocked gently. She waited, but let out a sigh of relief when there were footsteps and the door opened a jar. "Hello officer, how can I help?"

She opened the door a little wider and Yasmin immediately recognised the description she had been given - a 31 year old woman with a short blonde bob. "Jo Smith?" The woman nodded - albeit hesitantly. "I'm sorry to disturb you, my name's PC Khan. Yasmin. We just had a call concerned about your welfare? Apparently your neighbours haven't seen you for 10 days now," she explained. Normally she was a really good judge of someone on a first impression but something about this woman felt different.

"Well, as you can see I am still here. Just don't get out much," she shrugged. 

Yasmin nodded, but she had begun to notice the state of the flat. Something felt off here still. "Mind if I come in? Just need to ask a few questions - usual procedure." 

To be honest Yasmin didn't expect her to agree. This was usually the point where people shouted and shut the door. Instead Jo moved to the side and let her in. She walked through, glancing at all the rooms. "Sorry it's a bit of a mess, I'm not great at tidying - never have been. Comes with the territory. Just a hoarder me. Pretty impressive how much stuff I've collected in 6 months when I barely leave the house really." Yasmin was a little taken aback by the slightly random statements. She did note the part about barely leaving the flat. "Sorry I'm being proper rude aren't I, can I get you a drink? Tea? I've got biscuits too. Feel free to have a seat - they're clean I promise." 

Yasmin glanced at the chairs - the place wasn't exactly unhygienic, it was just… really messy. She sat on the edge of the sofa out of politeness. "I'm fine, but thank you. Can I ask why you don't leave the flat?" 

Jo sat on the chair opposite her and shrugged, "just not a very outside person. Don't have much need to." She opened her notebook and started to write some bits down. She needed to piece this altogether.

"What about work?" 

"I suppose you could say I'm self-employed, but I'm on a bit of a break right now." That didn't really answer the question. 

Figuring she wasn't going to get any further on that road, she tried a different one. "What about friends and family?" 

Jo's reply was not what she expected. "Don't have any of them me, too much effort. Prefer to be free and easy." Yasmin noted that down, how could someone have nobody? She was convinced this woman was hiding something. "Don't you be worrying about me - I'm fine and dandy! Was busy people watching before you arrived - I like to assess their walks and try and decide where they're going. Got yours wrong though - didn't guess it was me you were headed to in such a rush. Kinda assumed someone had been attacked the way you were moving. Maybe my brain is going off." The last sentence had been quieter, but Yasmin heard it. 

"To be honest Ms Smith we thought you could have been, or at least in some sort of danger...or worse." There had been a lot of thoughts running through her head when the call came in after all. 

For some reason Jo looked pleased at this. "Oh good so I wasn't completely wrong then. Reassuring," she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as a sign of relief. 

It was hard not to laugh at that. "I have to say I've never met anyone like you Ms Smith," Yasmin smiled. "Do you mind if I take some contact details? One of our welfare officers will need to call you. It's just procedure honestly," she didn't want to sound too needy, but she wanted to get this woman help. 

Jo did give her the details. Yasmin couldn't take her eyes off her while she wrote them down, trying to get a feeling for what was wrong here. 

Eventually she had no more reason to stay. Yasmin made her way to the door and Jo followed to show her out politely. However compliant she had been, something still told Yasmin she wasn't going to accept help from some random on the phone. She paused after opening the door. This was so off book, but she did it anyway. "If you ever need to chat," she started before pulling out a small card, quickly scribbling on it and handing it over. "You shouldn't be lonely Ms Smith. Reach out to someone - even if it's not us." 

She left and made her way back down the stairs so she had time to think. Maybe she would never see Jo Smith again, but something inside her really hoped she would. She at least hoped the woman would reach out for help, there was definitely something hiding underneath that cheery persona. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers! Thank you so much for the comments on the last chapter. They spurred me on to writing this one. 
> 
> Zero thasmin content in this, but Jo has listened to Yasmin :). Plus the introduction of some faves...

Everytime she went to the fridge Jo saw the small card with her number on it, and everytime she paused and thought about what the police officer had said. 

It was beginning to annoy her now. She was fine just existing, perfectly happy. 

Was she happy? 

Now she was doubting herself too. This was ridiculous. She was fine, everything was fine. 

Except it wasn't fine at all. The more Jo thought about it, the more she realised Yasmin was right. She had cut herself off from everyone after River left, nobody she cared about even knew where she was living. If she died tomorrow they might never know. Imagine nobody turning up to your funeral - that would suck. Who would she haunt?

She pulled the card off the fridge and went to her phone, beginning to dial in the number before stopping half way.

Yasmin was probably just being polite or felt sorry for her. She put the card back on the fridge. Maybe a different approach? Jo considered her options before grabbing her coat. Leaving the flat was a good start.

* * *

She drove around for awhile, not really knowing where she was heading until she recognised a few things. Her old neighbourhood. Jo parked up and started to walk around- she hadn't been here in months. Everything was so familiar and yet it felt really strange being back. She reached her favourite coffee place and decided now was as good a time as any to face her fears.

The small bell chimed as she walked in, she loved that sound. The cafe was warm and welcoming as always, but Jo didn't have long before she was spotted. 

"Jo?" The cafe owner left the counter to walk over to her. "It is so good to see you," she immediately pulled her into a hug. Jo stiffened at the contact, but then she hadn't really touched another human in six months. "Sorry I know you don't really like hugs, but it's been ages. You just vanished after the fire…" she stepped back, looking Jo over as if to make sure she was in one piece.

She hadn't once considered that they could've been worried. "I'm so sorry Grace. I didn't want to be a burden," Jo explained. 

Grace led her to a table and sat her down, calling to one of the waitresses to bring them over some tea and biscuits. "You would never have been a burden Jo. We tried so hard to get in contact - we were going to offer our spare room while you sorted things out."

"I really am sorry," Jo replied and looked down. Grace and her husband Graham had always been great to Jo. They were two of the six people who knew she was 'The Doctor'.

Shaking her head, Grace waited for the waitress to put the tea and biscuits down before replying. "Stop apologising, it's just so good to see you. We always hoped we might bump into you in town or something, just to know you were okay. Are you okay?" 

Jo hadn't really looked up from her hands in her lap since they sat down, "I dunno. I thought I was, but then this police woman came because my neighbour thought I might've died and she made me realise how much I've cut myself off." 

"I like her already," Grace pushed the mug towards her. "Do you want to chat about anything?"

"Not really. S'good to be back though," Jo commented and finally allowed herself to look at the table. "You do make the best tea here." 

Grace nodded, "I'd better go check how things are out back, you stay as long as you want love," she briefly placed a hand on Jo's shoulder before making her way back to the kitchen.

Even that simple touch and the short conversation had made Jo realise how much she did miss parts of her old life. Back then she would spend hours in the cafe sketching ideas, reading books and chatting to Grace and Graham at the counter. All the staff knew her order by heart and knew exactly when she wanted to chat and when she needed to concentrate. It was perfect. 

The tea was warm and calming as she sipped it and the biscuit plate had a good supply of custard creams. She watched people come and go, not paying much attention until they started cleaning up. "I should probably get out the way," Jo said to Grace when she started wiping down the table. 

"Actually I was hoping you might come for dinner love, it's been a while and Graham would love to see you. Ryan too of course." 

Jo considered this. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had anything close to a proper home cooked meal and Graham was a fantastic cook. She remembered what Yasmin had said too. "Okay, yeah I'd love that. Can you just prewarn them - I really don't want to talk about it."

"I'll let them know," Grace promised her - making eye contact to ensure sincerity. "Nobody is going to force you to do anything you don't want to, but if you ever want to talk just let me know." 

Jo let herself smile a little and stood up, telling Grace she was going to nip home and change before going to theirs. She popped into the shop and picked up a bottle of wine to take over before going home and looking through her minimal selection of clothes. She really needed to invest in something other than lounging clothes. Thankfully she had one pair of jeans which were folded at the back so she stuck them on with a top and brushed her hair out properly. 

When she looked in the mirror she barely recognised herself. She realised how much weight she had lost by the fact that her jeans were almost falling down and quickly found a belt. Once that was fixed she stood back in front of the mirror. For some reason she was suddenly very nervous. She didn't need to be - Grace and Graham were the nicest people she knew. Ryan was equally lovely, albeit he mostly took the piss out of her for various things but in that friendly kind of way. They had always looked out for her.

After a couple of deep breaths, Jo plucked up the courage to leave the flat again and drive over to their house. She sat in her car outside for a few moments and looked at the familiar setting of their house. They'd planted new flowers in the front garden, she noted. The door was painted a new colour as well. "a new colour too - shame, she liked the green. 

"You coming in or what?" Graham was calling her from the door. Jo couldn't help but smile when she saw him waving. She got out of the car and walked up to the door. "It's so good to see you kiddo."

"You too Graham. What you been cooking tonight then?" She asked, making her way in. Jo stopped in the hall while he shut the door.

Graham turned around, "your favourite! How could I not do my famous vegetable lasagne when I heard you were coming?" he chuckled. "Are you gonna go in or eat out here?"

"Oh sorry I was just waiting… been a while you know?" she spoke a little nervously. 

He gave a sympathetic smile. "Jo it's alright love. We aren't gonna treat you any differently unless you ask us too. You are more than welcome here always so get in there and make yourself at home or I'll push you myself," he told her frankly. 

"Yes sir," she mock saluted him which made Graham chuckle. 

Waiting in the lounge was Ryan who immediately jumped up, "hey hey Joanna! The wanderer returns."

"Yeah I haven't changed my feelings on you calling me that," she rolled her eyes and did their little handshake. "Good to see you mate."

"You n all. Gran said some police officer got you to come back - she fit?"

Jo laughed. Wow she hadn't laughed in ages. "I have to say I wasn't paying much attention to that side of things. Great attempt at avoiding the elephant in the room - fair play."

"Thanks, glad you appreciate it. Anyway sit down I'll grab you a drink," he explained but turned back for a second, "I am genuinely so glad you're back Jo."

"Me too Ry." Finally she was sure about something - she had missed her friends. 

* * *

The longer Jo spent with the O'Brien's, the more relaxed she got. After dinner they had played a board game and her competitive side came out. By 9pm it was almost like she'd never been away. Her and Ryan bickered like siblings while Graham and Grace kept replenishing cups of tea and the biscuit plate. "I'd better head off - you'll have an early start in the morning."

"Well don't be a stranger Jo, you know you're welcome anytime - here or the cafe," Grace told her as they walked to the door. "Remember what I said."

Jo nodded, "I know Grace. I promise I'll talk when I'm ready, but this is a start to getting back to normal."

"You have never been normal," Ryan tutted from the other end of the hall. Jo rolled her eyes.

They all said their goodbyes and Jo left. 

When she returned to the flat it suddenly felt emptier than before. She had laughed more in the last few hours than she had done in months and it felt so freeing. Now the security of her flat felt more like a lonely, empty affair. Nonetheless, that amount of social interaction had tired her out so she quickly showered, changed and jumped into bed. 

One step at a time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look it's probably gonna be a slow burn if we are honest here, but ain't she cute?! 
> 
> Let me know what you think guys - I love reading all your comments. I'll try and update asap, but I'm surprisingly busy over the weekend! Thank you all xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey pals! Sorry it's been so long - had a long spell of writer's block as well as work being completely crazy (not that this should be surprising to me working in the NHS mid-pandemic). Anyway - Yasmin is back...

As she had suspected, when Yasmin checked in with the welfare team a few days later they hadn't been able to get in touch with Jo Smith. There was very little she could do now, but it didn't stop the woman from playing on her mind far too often. Was she okay? Had she reached out to someone? Or was she back the way Yasmin had found her. 

"Oi Khan, daydreaming again?" She'd forgotten that she had a partner today. 

"Sorry Bill, just thinking about that welfare case from the other day," she explained, keeping her eye on the road in front of them looking for anything suspicious. 

Bill sipped her coffee, "I heard about that one. Shit part of the job, especially when they're young."

"She's ignoring the phone calls - I kinda thought she might. I just hope she's got in contact with someone. She was definitely hiding something," Yasmin sighed and reached for her own drink. In the three days since they had met she had replayed that conversation over and over. So many things just didn't add up in her head. Jo was so vague in her answers which left Yasmin thinking that maybe she did have someone out there. But then why had she hidden herself away? 

"You can't dwell on it. If you let every single case get to you then you won't last the year out mate. Chances are you'll never see her again so there isn't much point on it," Bill replied and offered her a crisp. 

Yasmin refused. Bill was right, she knew it. Bill also didn't know that she had given Jo her personal number. Had that been a mistake? It was against the rules at least. Jo hadn't called her yet - chances are it ended up in the bin the moment she left. "Fair point. Let's change topic - how come you're hungover today?" 

"Wait no let's go back to your lonely woman," Bill groaned.

They laughed and conversation flowed fairly normally until their next shout.

When Yasmin finished her shift and got home she decided to pop round to the local cafe and pick up some treats for her family. Quickly changing out of her uniform, she threw on some comfy clothes and let her hair down before walking round. She frequented this place regularly - it did the best tea and coffee in the area and fantastic homemade pastries and cakes. It was a popular stop off for her on duty as well as off. 

"Out of uniform today love?" Grace asked when she walked in and made her way to the counter.

"Just finished. Thought I'd grab some of your gorgeous treats for the family," she smiled. "How are you both doing?"

Grace knew the whole order by heart so quickly started putting it together. "We're great thanks, how about you? You seem a little… distracted?"

"Lot on my mind, you know how it is. Difficult job playing on my mind. Sometimes it's hard not knowing if you made a difference," she shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it now."

Grace placed the tea and cakes on the counter, "anything you want to talk about?"

"You know I can't talk about cases," she smiled gratefully. "Thank you though, I'll come in on my next day off for a proper catch up - promise."

"You better do, been too long Yasmin Khan," Graham called from the back. "Get yourself round for dinner soon n all, I'm sure Ryan would love to see you." 

She smiled and took the cakes from the counter after paying. "Promise. Thanks Graham, take it easy." 

They said their goodbyes and she walked out to go home. 

* * *

Two weeks later, Yasmin finally made pay to her promise and found time to go for dinner. "Well don't you look lovely," Grace smiled at her when she opened the door. "Come on in," she moved out of the doorway.

"Well isn't it quite the month for dinner reunions," Ryan commented when Yasmin walked in. "Good to see you mate," he gave her a quick hug. "How you been?"

"Not your first? Well I don't feel quite so special anymore," she tutted before chuckling. "Anyway yes, I'm alright thanks. Work has been busy but it keeps me occupied. How about you? How's the apprenticeship?"

"Finished! You are looking at Sheffield's finest mechanic," he grinned.

Graham stuck his head out of the door, "last week he had to fix my car after he smashed it into a lamppost." Yasmin laughed. "Good to see you Yaz," he added before disappearing back to the kitchen. 

Ryan rolled his eyes and changed the topic. "How come it's been so long anyway? When Gran first met you at the café six months ago you were round all the time!"

"Work, mostly. Working more shifts so I can save up to move out," she shrugged. "Sorry I know I've been a pretty shit friend considering we only reunited a few months ago." 

"Eh, you're not the only one to disappear for a while. Good to have you back though - haven't had anyone to beat a cluedo for ages! For a cop you're pretty shit at the murder mystery game," he chuckled. Yasmin was the one to roll her eyes now. "Come on I already dug it out - we have time before dinner."

* * *

Yasmin enjoyed her evening. She was actually pretty disappointed when she had to leave, but her 7am shift start would be difficult if she didn’t get an early night. “Promise you won’t leave it so long this time?” Grace asked as she put her coat on.

“ Promise,” Yasmin replied and smiled. “Thanks for a great evening guys,” she started to slip her shoes on. While she did there was a knock at the door. Graham called that he’d get it, not that anyone had thought otherwise given he was stood by the door anyway. Yasmin didn’t pay much attention to the conversation happening at the door while she focussed on the laces on her trainers. Only when she stood up did she notice who was just entering the house. “Hello again,” she smiled politely at the familiar face. Internally she felt a rush of relief – Jo had reached out to her friends after all, Yasmin just didn’t realise they were her friends too.

Jo had stopped talking and looked a little shocked. Graham looked between the two women. “You know each other.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Yasmin gave Jo a look to tell her she wouldn’t say anything the blonde didn’t want her to. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Good to see you Ms Smith,” she added before quickly saying her goodbyes to the O’Brien clan and leaving.

All attention turned to Jo in that moment and she hated it. “Ms Smith?” Ryan asked the question on everyone’s lips, “very formal.”

“That’s just how she knows me,” Jo replied honestly.

“How do you know Yaz then love?” Grace asked as they made their way to the lounge – all bar Graham who went to make tea (albeit listening into the conversation as he did).

Jo sat down in what had become her usual spot, “Yaz?”

“Yeah, the one who called you Ms Smith,” Ryan replied – trying his best not to laugh at the formality which felt very strange.

“Oh Yasmin, that makes sense,” Jo made the link in her brain. Maybe her friends called her Yaz? “She was the police officer I told you about,” she aimed the statement at Grace.

Grace thought back to that conversation and what Jo had said about the police officer who persuaded her to reach out. “Yeah, that sounds like Yaz,” she smiled.

“I don’t remember you talking about her before,” Jo tried to remember if she’d heard the name before now.

Ryan stepped in for this one, “we went to school together. Hadn’t seen Yaz for years until she popped into the café about six months ago. She goes in there all the time now, usually while she’s on shift.”

“Mm we have great chats – she’s a good lass,” Grace told her. “Maybe we should have you both over at some point.”

Jo simply shrugged, trying to decide how she felt about it all. She only popped in as she was walking by, this wasn’t exactly how she had planned the evening. Thankfully Grace must have spotted her brain in overdrive and changed the conversation, filling her in on some entertaining customers. Not that this stopped her from thinking back to Yasmin – or Yaz – and the look she had given her.

* * *

Yaz walked home briskly, waving at her parents quickly before going in the shower. She couldn’t get the way Jo looked at her off her mind. Had she upset her? Done the wrong thing? She almost jumped when she left the bathroom her sister was waiting outside the door. “I wasn’t even 15 minutes Sonya geez,” she move out of the doorway.

“I don’t need the loo – I want to know what’s going on with you at the moment,” Sonya replied. 

“What are you on about?” Yaz asked blankly.

Sonya shook her head, “don’t give me that. We’ve barely seen you in weeks. Mum and Dad are getting all naggy and worried and it’s me that has to deal with it so I want answers.”

Sighing, Yaz walked across the hall to her room and pushed the door open, beckoning her sister to follow her inside before shutting it firmly behind them. Sonya took her usual spot, sitting on the corner of the bed cross-legged. Yaz joined her on the bed once she’d disposed of her towel over the radiator. “Look it’s really nothing. I had a case at work a few weeks back that got to me a bit so I’ve been trying not to think about it too much by going out for runs and working extra shifts,” she shrugged.

“Because ignoring the problem and not talking about it has worked out really well for you in the past,” Sonya gave Yaz a look that she knew well. “For crying out loud Yaz I know we fight all the time, but you promised me you’d never get back there again. You said you’d talk to me!”

“I’m fine! I went over to Ryan’s tonight and had dinner with his family, it was lovely. Son I know you worry, but this isn’t like that,” she spoke, referring to her difficulties at school that led her to run away. “My promise still stands – if I need help I’ll talk to you. The work case was confidential; I can’t talk to you about it even if I wanted to. Anyway, I found out today that the woman involved is okay – at least I think she is – so that’s good.” Was she okay? Yaz considered texting Ryan to ask, but that would be breaking her unspoken promise to Jo Smith.

Sonya made eye contact with her, “hm. You’re not convincing me, but I’ll let you off for now. Fancy a movie?”

“Go and find the popcorn,” Yaz winked and started to set up her TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all catch onto what I did with Yaz's name?? Been planning that since the start. A relief to stop typing Yasmin all the time! 
> 
> Much love xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn this took me far too long I'm so sorry. I got completely stuck in a rut with this chapter and I'm still not totally happy with it, but it's here now and we move on...

When Yaz woke up the next morning - and given her position and clothing she guessed she fallen asleep during the film - she found a text from an unknown number. 

_ Thanks for not saying anything last night.  _

Followed by

_ Oh it's Jo by the way. Smith. Incase you didn't know. You probably did.  _

Yaz smiled at the rambling message. 

_ Anytime. Hope you're feeling better now you're getting out :)  _

Was the smiley face too much? Maybe a little unprofessional? But they were currently texting each other which broke all the rules anyway. It was too late now anyway - the message was sent. 

Leaving her phone on the side, Yaz started her morning routine to get ready for work. After a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast when she realised how late it was, she made it to work with seconds to spare. 

"Thought you weren't gonna show up," Bill teased as she greeted her. "Looks like it's you and me again partner. Wanna drive?" 

Yaz didn't really get a chance to answer as the keys were thrown at her, not that she minded - she enjoyed driving. "We off out already?"

"Absolutely. Mind numbing job of sitting at the roadside waiting for an idiot to drive by," she told her. Bill clearly wasn't pleased about this - Yaz was grateful to be doing something different recently.

"Can so tell you're still on probation," she tutted and they made their way out to the car. "So any news on your lonely woman?"

Yaz jumped in and started the car, "the team still haven't traced her," she replied honestly. 

"Well you seem happier today at least ," Bill pointed out.

"Took your advice," Yaz shrugged. "Come on, where are we going?"

* * *

The first part of the day was fairly dull. A couple of speeding fines issued and one stop for a brake light out, but otherwise nothing to speak of. 

They had just got back into the car after their lunch break when the call came through about the car accident. It sounded pretty serious so they rushed to the scene as they were close. Yaz hadn't done many accidents like this yet so Bill primed her ready for it before they arrived.

They were the first emergency service on scene so Bill immediately started to take charge of the scene with her experience. She asked Yaz to check on the further car from them so she jogged over. There were a few members of the public around trying to help so she got a little history from them. It was a female driver and her 5 year old daughter in the car - immediately Yaz felt her heart sink. She was also told that a doctor was treating the woman so Yaz made her way over. 

"...the super fast police and ambulance people will be here soon to help too! They're almost as brave as you." The voice from the doctor was familiar, then Yaz focussed on the person kneeling on the passenger side of the car. "Oh hi Yaz," she smiled, "hey Kelsey this is my friend Yaz - she's an  _ amazing _ police officer. Yaz this is Kelsey, she's a bit scared and her head hurts a little. Her mummy has hurt her legs pretty badly and probably broken some bones."

Yaz smiled at the little girl and turned back to Jo, "you're a doctor?"

"Technically yes, but I haven't worked as one for a long time now. Got through 7 years of training and decided it wasn't what I wanted to do. Some of it clearly stuck though," Jo explained and then turned herself back to calming Kelsey and her Mum down. The paramedics appeared around her a few moments later and Yaz left Jo to give them the low down. 

She knew there was no time to ponder on this new found knowledge and she went to get information from the onlookers about the accident. Bill had already signalled to her that the other driver was under the influence of alcohol, and from the looks of it didn't have too many injuries. If she wasn't being professional she'd have throttled him. Instead she made a note of witness statements and took down details before letting people go. 

Yaz was in the middle of speaking to the last person at her end when she heard the commotion behind her. There were other officers around now and a few of them were shouting - the drunk guy was being tackled to the ground. She looked around for Bill and realised she was on the floor too. Yaz jogged over and knelt down to check on her, "what happened?"

"He tried to get away, idiot. Knocked me over that's all," she pushed herself up again. 

Yaz wasn't convinced. 

"Can I help?" Yaz heard Jo's voice behind her. "The fire guys are cutting the roof off the car so I had to come away. What happened?"

Before Bill could argue, Yaz started to reply. "She got knocked to the ground, mind checking her over? She's a stubborn one mind."

"Yeah no problem," Jo knelt down beside Bill and introduced herself before going through a series of checks with her. Yaz marvelled at how easily Jo got Bill to agree to it all, she definitely had a way with people. It was only when the senior investigator came to speak to her that Yaz realised she had been staring at Jo the whole time. She shook her head and got back to work. 

* * *

They ended up at the hospital. Jo had advised that Bill should be checked out, so Yaz offered to do the necessary follow up interviews and backup her colleagues who were staying with the drunk driver. Part of her was thrilled to be doing something other than speeding fines and parking ticket disputes, but she subdued that feeling quickly - people had been hurt today. 

Kelsey's Mum, Linda, had been rushed to theatre when she arrived. Bill was currently getting a CT scan done to double check her head now she had admitted to knocking it. Yaz had done all she could for now so took a step outside to get some air. She went towards the coffee cart in the car park, but spotted someone in the corner of her eye round the side of the building. Her blonde hair and long coat was recognisable. Yaz made her way over, "expected to see you in there."

"I'm working on it," Jo replied. 

Call it police instinct or human concern, but Yaz knew there was more to this. "Been working on it a while, I've been in there for over an hour," she commented. Jo didn't reply. "I was going to grab a tea - it's pretty cold out here. Want one?"

"Sure, I'll get them," Jo replied. Her voice seemed shaky - a little more like the day they first met.

"Nonsense, have a seat and I'll be over in a sec," Yaz replied and went off to the coffee cart. She returned shortly after and joined Jo on the bench, handing her the tea. "So how come you can't go in?"

Jo stared down at the steam rising from the small hole in the lid of the cup. "I spent my last placement in this A&E department before I left the job. I let a lot of people down when I left," she shrugged. "Haven't been back since."

"You were really good out there, a complete natural," Yaz told her honestly. 

"I loved being a doctor, but it wasn't for me in the end," Jo still didn't look up from the cup. 

Once she realised that Jo wasn't going to say anymore on that matter, Yaz tried a new approach. "Kelsey was asking for you. They've taken her Mum to surgery."

Now she looked up, "Kesley's on her own?"

"The nurses are staying with her. She's doing okay, we had a little chat," Yaz reassured her. "I know she would appreciate a friendly face."

Jo bit her bottom lip gently before taking a sip of her tea. "You must think I'm a right idiot."

"I'm not here to judge you Jo," Yaz told her. "I know we barely know each other, but I kinda like helping people so if you need to talk…"

Yaz watched as Jo clearly considered what she had said, but she didn't reply.

* * *

Jo so desperately wanted to tell Yaz everything and she didn't know why. For someone who didn't trust easily, Jo felt this immediate connection with the police officer. She glanced over to the main entrance of the hospital - it was like facing her past. 

It must have been about 10 minutes since they'd last spoken, but Jo hadn't realised the time passing. Yaz's radio broke the silence as Bill asked where she'd got to. 

"You going back in?" Jo asked her. Yaz nodded. "Can you take me to Kelsey?" 

That made the younger woman smile, "sure. It's not far," Yaz replied and they stood up. 

Jo followed Yaz in, taking a deep breath as they walked through the door. Yaz kept glancing back at her, a flash of concern on her face. The artist kept passing off a fake smile to try and pacify her, but clearly the police officer knew better than that. 

She led her to one of the cubicles and carefully pulled back the curtain. “Hey Kels, look who I’ve got for you.” Yaz moved to show Jo stood behind her. Immediately, the child perked up. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ve got a needy colleague to check up on.” She turned to leave but paused by Jo and whispered, “I’m not going far if you need anything.”

Jo nodded politely, letting her go. She shut the curtain, feeling better now it was just her, Kelsey, and thankfully a nurse she didn’t recognise. “I didn’t think you were coming.” The voice of the little girl brought her back to the present.

“I’m so sorry sweetheart, I got caught up with… stuff. How are you feeling?” Jo sat down beside her on the bed.

Kelsey shrugged, “I wanna see Mummy. They won’t let me.”

“The doctors have to make her a bit better first, but I’ll stay with you for now,” she promised. As Jo finished speaking, the young girl crawled over and curled up against her. “Sleep if you want, I’ll wake you when you can see Mummy.”

Clearly Kesley was shattered and she quickly fell asleep in Jo’s lap. “You’re welcome to go if you want,” she looked to the nurse. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“We just need to observe her…” she spoke nervously - clearly fairly new to the job.

“Don’t worry, I’m a doctor,” Jo reassured her.

“She sure is. Jo Smith, I never thought I’d see your face in here again,” the curtain opened and Jo saw her old colleague Martha stood there. “Thank you Nurse Lina, go have a break.” Jo looked back down at the sleeping girl in her lap. Martha was one of the good guys, she hadn’t done anything wrong, but Jo had left without saying anything and completely cut ties with the hospital. “So you’re the off-duty doctor who was at the scene then.”

"Nobody asked for specifics about how long I'd been off duty," Jo replied without looking up. 

Martha chuckled, "not lost your sense of humour then. Did you seriously not go and work at another hospital? Everyone just assumed you'd got a better offer."

She simply shook her head, already slightly regretting stepping foot in here again. "I got out. I had to." 

"Was it just about-"

"Don't. Martha don't say it. I've just moved on, these things happen. I'm sorry it was so sudden, I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, but it was years ago now and I can't take it back," Jo told her, stroking Kelsey's hair back to get it out of her face. 

Martha nodded respectfully and sat down in the chair beside the bed. Jo glanced over to try and judge if she'd upset the other woman. "You taught me so much about being a good doctor, I've always respected that. I won't lie, I was very upset when you just disappeared, but it taught me to stand on my own two feet. I guess I'm trying to say I forgive you Jo." Jo smiled gratefully. "So where did you run to then? How's the wife? We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh Martha Jones you have no idea…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate all the comments.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hello I'm on a roll! We are getting closer to the nitty gritty of the story now - that's what we are all here for after all. 
> 
> In this chapter, just two mildly confused gays.

Bill was fine. Yaz dropped her home before returning to the hospital to follow up. By the time she had got back, Kelsey’s Mum was out of theatre and the young girl was lying on the bed beside her Mum. Jo was sat in the corner still and looked up when Yaz knocked and opened the door. “How are we doing in here?”

“They’re both sleeping. She woke up briefly, there was an emotional reunion and now they’re resting. How’s your partner?”

“Milking it, but home now. Thank you for your help out there,” Yaz greeted her. “I could do with another tea, can I get you one?” 

Jo sat up a little, “you bought the last one.” 

“And you saved a woman’s life. Consider it a thank you. Plus I have time to kill now, gives me something useful to do,” Yaz smiled. 

“Then yeah, thank you,” Jo replied. 

The police officer nodded and went out to get the teas. While she was waiting she had a small chance to reflect over the completely unexpected shift, and most importantly - this new fact about Jo. The woman was a complete mystery to Yaz, despite her usual ability to read people well. She seemed almost withdrawn, like there was a huge part of her hidden from the world and this drew Yaz in as though Jo was a puzzle waiting for her to solve. Someone certainly did, despite seeing friends Jo still seemed like she needed… something.

The guy at the tea bar broke her daydream as he shouted her name. She smiled gratefully and took the cups from him before returning to the ward. Jo took her tea, thanking Yaz. "We keep meeting in very strange situations PC Khan." 

“Please, call me Yaz. The title is way too formal at this point,” she replied. “You’re not wrong though.”

Jo shrugged, “I rarely am.” Then she looked up, “wait that makes me sound really self-centred I’m just used to-”

“I got it, don’t worry,” Yaz smiled. Jo smiled in return – she had a lovely smile. “How come you know Grace and Graham then?”

They got into a settled conversation. Jo explained how she briefly worked with Grace and that the couple quickly took her under their wing. It seemed that her and Ryan had a very sibling like behaviour with the way she spoke about him, and her respect for the elder two was obvious. Yaz knew what she meant – their house always felt safe. She was glad Jo had that back now. “I shouldn’t have stopped visiting, but I kind of cut myself off from everyone.”

Yaz was going to question her further, but they were interrupted by the door opening. She recognised the woman who came in as one of the doctors from downstairs. “I thought I’d check up on everything before I leave, how’re they doing?” Yaz realised the question was aimed at Jo so stayed quiet.

“Okay, just resting now. Thanks for everything Martha,” Jo replied.

“You know I’m just doing my job.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Jo looked down into her tea again. Yaz felt a little like she was interrupting something.

Martha walked further in now, so the police officer moved out of the way. She handed Jo a piece of paper, “I know you’ll have deleted it. Drop me a message, let’s go for coffee. No talk of work or this place, just as friends.” The blonde woman took the paper, but didn’t reply. Martha placed a hand briefly on her shoulder before leaving – giving Yaz a smile on the way out.

“Everyone including your old colleagues then?” Yaz referred back to their earlier conversation.

“You don’t have to do another welfare check on me PC Khan,” Jo immediately snapped.

Caught out by the sudden change in mood, she decided it might be best to leave Jo to it for a while. There was clearly a lot that her initial meeting with the woman hadn’t even begun to touch on.

* * *

For some reason, Jo found herself stopping at a local art shop on her way home. She bought a couple of canvases and her favourite paint set. The inspiration she’d been lacking for months had suddenly all bombarded her and she needed to get it out. Once back at the flat she grabbed some snacks and set herself up in front of the window. She took a deep breath and started painting her thoughts.

This was how she had always painted, it came from somewhere inside her and turned into abstract masterpieces. The brush moved smoothly across the canvas as she mixed colours and finally created something. The canvas was half dark and half light, like a representation of her feelings right now. It was like she was breaking out of this hell she’d been living in. This whole situation had come out of nowhere. She painted flashes of red on the black background to represent the moments of pain she felt – like stab wounds direct from the hand of her. The light side had yellow flashes – not as many, but a few to show the glimpses of improvement that were coming. She painted one each for Grace, Graham and Ryan, and one for Martha. After a brief pause, she added one for Yaz too – her arrival had been the catalyst after all.

Only when it was finished did she move from the stool she had perched on. Jo took a few steps back and looked at the piece in front of her. She had no idea where the sudden need to do this had come from, but she felt so much better now. There was just one thing missing. Jo walked forward, picking up the black fine liner she had also bought and signed the bottom right corner.

_ The Doctor x _

Just like that – she was back. Jo surveyed her work closely as she always had, but her eyes kept drawing back to the final flash of yellow. PC Yasmin Khan had turned up at just the right time. Any police officer could’ve turned up that day – but it was the young pretty one, which Jo could admit probably convinced her to listen. There was more to Yaz than that though – she truly seemed to care. Not in an ‘it’s my job and I have no choice’ way, but like she actually wanted Jo to get better.

Suddenly the artist felt awful for having snapped at her earlier. Yaz’s face had dropped – Jo didn’t like that. Yaz looked so lovely with a smile on her face. She thought about that smile, a warm sensation rushing across her chest.

Oh. That was new.

She shook her head, it was probably nothing. Nobody had been caring for Jo for months, of course she would feel affection for the first person to do so.

Maybe it was time for bed.

* * *

When Yaz returned to work after her rest days, Bill ran straight over to her. “I have news for you!”

“It’s Monday morning, what on earth has got you this excited?” she asked, flicking the kettle on.

“Okay okay I know, but that doctor at the scene – you said she was your welfare case right?” Yaz nodded, still not sure where this was going – but definitely sure she needed caffeine.

Bill continued regardless. “Well I thought I recognised her, but I wasn’t sure where from so I did some digging and came across this,” she placed a folder down on the worktop. Yaz looked at it, then at Bill, completely confused. She finished making her tea. “It’s a case from a few months ago, I wasn’t directly involved but everyone talked about it. A house at the posh end of town got burned down in suspicious circumstances and the woman lost everything,” she opened the folder and showed Yaz the first page. There was a picture in the corner – it was Jo. 

They went over and sat at the table while Yaz read the rest of the summarised report, “this is awful. No wonder she’s in this state…”

“Funny that she didn’t mention it when you saw her though right?”

Yaz shrugged, “maybe she’s trying to put the past behind her. Not very well mind, but it might be her way of coping.”

“They reckoned her wife might have had something to do with it, but there was no evidence to prove it,” Bill shut the folder and took it back. “Weird.”

“Dunno, but she saved a woman’s life last week so feels kinda wrong to talk about her like this,” she sipped at her tea.

Jo had a wife? There was no sign of her in the flat – no pictures, no sign of a wedding ring either. Yaz shook the thoughts out.

“Oi Khan, where’s your head gone? Do you fancy her or something?” Bill asked.

She almost choked on her tea, “Bill what the hell?! Just go and put that back, we start in 5.”

Jo wasn't straight then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Let me know what you think xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our fave two are back in action and both still being idiots. The Doctor is on her way though...

Overnight Jo felt the urge to get creative again so she set to clearing out her spare room. She mentioned it to Ryan the next time she was over there and he immediately offered to help. For the next week the two of them decorated the room and bought a whole load of new supplies. Jo added some detail to Ryan's base coat while he built furniture in the living room.

"So how come you suddenly decided to make your comeback?" Ryan called through.

“I never said I was, I just want to paint again and I need a space to do that,” Jo replied. Truth is she hadn’t even called her agent yet. She delicately added more flowers to the silhouette style design on the wall.

Ryan appeared in the hall. Jo resisted the urge to laugh at the piece of packaging stuck to his leg. “You know the media are going wild out there, wondering where you’ve gone.”

Jo shrugged, “let them. S’up to me when I release anything, not them.”

“Of course, but I do kinda miss going to your gallery openings with you and watching people have no idea that it’s you,” Ryan chuckled at the memories.

“Just be glad they still don’t know it’s me. Half expected her to… well, you know,” she put her brush down.

Ryan made his way in and sat down beside Jo, removing the piece of cardboard he had now noticed himself. “Think she’d done enough by that point mate. Swear if I could get my hands on her now…”

“No offence Ry, but she’d have you on the floor in seconds. Besides, she’s not worth it and I really don’t want to think about it,” Jo sighed.

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before Ryan broke it. “We’ve made good progress today, what do you say we go to Nan’s café and grab tea and cake?”

“Ryan Sinclair you have the best ideas,” Jo jumped up and then assessed herself, “I should change shouldn’t I?”

Ryan nodded, “glad you’re learning mate,” he laughed and Jo disappeared.

When they arrived at the café, Jo immediately made her way over to her favourite table while Ryan went to greet his Gran. Jo watched them interact, smiling at how close the two of them were. Grace, Ryan and Graham had truly been wonderful to her for years. Very few people knew she was The Doctor, but the three of them did and they had always been incredible supporting. Ryan had never got along with her ex – he tolerated her for Jo’s sake, but maybe Jo should have paid more attention to his suspicions. They always insisted on going to her gallery openings with her – Jo had her suspicions that Ryan only attended to join her in listening into everyone’s conversations about the art. They were good people.

“Hello love,” Grace and Ryan joined her at the table with tea for all of them and a plate of varying biscuits and cakes. “Ryan just showed me pictures, the place is looking great.”

Jo smiled, “yeah it’s looking good. I can’t wait to have an art room again – it’s so hard to paint in a normal room, far too many distractions.”

Grace sipped her tea while she listened. “Have you painted anything other than the walls yet?”

“Just one the other day, I’m not sure about it though – very different to anything I’ve done before. Well, there was a little one too but that doesn’t really count,” she commented.

“Maybe you’re entering a new era,” Ryan said as a passing comment, but it immediately got Jo thinking. Maybe he was right – it was time to switch things up a little. She thought back to the painting she had done and the meaning behind it. Her life had changed a lot – why couldn’t her art change too? “Oi Josephine, you in there?”

Ryan interrupted her little daydream. “That’s not my name,” she scowled back, but they both knew Ryan was joking. Only then did Jo notice that someone had sat down next to her. She looked up and her heart skipped a beat. “Oh! Hiya Yaz, you alright?” When had she arrived? Jo observed how her hair was down and flowed long below her shoulders with natural curls.

“Fine thanks. I’m not interrupting am I?” Yaz asked.

“No!” Jo immediately responded. That sounded a little too keen didn’t it? Shit, was she overdoing it? Why did Yasmin Khan make her so nervous? “No, you’re fine, could do with changing the topic anyway. What brings you in?”

Yaz thanked Grace for the tea as the older woman sat back down. “Ryan messaged me. I was going to text you actually Jo, I was doing some follow up on the crash at the hospital with Kelsey’s Mum – she’s doing great. Kelsey told me to say hi and said thank you for the dinosaur.”

“Dinosaur?” Ryan questioned. 

Jo nodded, “Kelsey told me how her room is dinosaur themed, so I painted her a little one.”

“Woah that kid has no idea,” he chuckled before Jo gave him a hard stare. “I mean… she has no idea how lucky she is… you never paint for other people… normally…” Ryan stuttered, trying to cover his tracks in front of Yaz.

Almost putting her head in her hands with despair, Jo gave him a signal to shut up. They were usually very good at keeping her secret – now wasn’t the time to let it slip. “Ignore Ryan; he’s just being a tool. Painting’s just a hobby to be honest, but I thought Kelsey would appreciate that.”

Yaz smiled, “well she definitely did. Showed me the photo of it at least 3 times – he’s a very cute little fella. She’s named him Marcus.”

“Interesting choice,” Jo nodded; glad Yaz seemed to be ignoring Ryan’s slip up. “And seeing as we are sharing news to appease each other, I’ve met up with Martha a couple of times since we were at the hospital.”

“That’s great. I’m sorry for… you know, the last time I saw you, I shouldn’t have been so intrusive,” Yaz apologised directly to Jo.

Jo shook her head, “I shouldn’t have snapped. I know you’re just following up on your job.”

There was a pause before the police officer responded. “That case was closed. It was more… friendly concern.”

“Oh…” Jo looked confused. “Are we friends now then?”

It was Ryan’s turn to give a look of despair now, “why do you think I asked Yaz to come? You two would get on so well! Drop the formalities and get to know each other already would you?”

* * *

After he finished speaking, Ryan nudged Grace and the two of them went back behind the counter, leaving Jo and Yaz sat opposite each other. Yaz watched them walk off behind Jo, considering what her friend had just done. “Give me a sec Jo,” she smiled and followed him out to the back. “Ryan, what the hell?”

“What? I’m serious – you guys have a lot in common. Well, maybe not a lot, but you’ve both had some shit times and you clearly get on from what I’ve heard so far,” he explained rationally.

Yaz sighed, “yes Ryan, but we met on the job. There are so many rules-”

“You said yourself the case in closed. What’s stopping you?” he asked.

Sadly, Ryan was right. The case was closed. She had very little comeback from this, and yet something still made her hesitate. Ryan had that glint in his eye – she knew it well from school. It was the one he would get when he had one of his ‘plans’. "I don't get why you're so keen."

"Yaz you are either at work or with us. Jo has hardly seen a soul in 6 months. You both need this, now go and make friends and stop chatting to me - I've got sandwiches to make." 

Ryan turned away from her, making his point perfectly clear. She gave in and made her way back to the table. 

"He's up to something isn't he?" Jo said when Yaz sat back down. "I'm not great at reading people, but Ryan is awful at hiding things."

Yaz chuckled, "yep. Definitely hiding something. Sorry about this, I had no idea this was why he wanted me to visit."

"Nah it's fine, I'm kinda glad really, I would like to get to know you better - like not as a police officer."

“I think we can arrange that. Why don’t we start again?” Yaz asked. Jo went to stand up, “wait, where are you going?”

Jo looked back, “well if we’re starting again I thought I should leave and come back.”

She laughed. Jo had the most wonderful personality that she just got the odd glimpse of – it was completely crazy and she loved it. “We don’t have to go quite that far back. Let’s just reintroduce ourselves. I’m Yasmin – Yaz to my friends, although I’m not great at making them. I’m in my second year of probation in the police force and don’t do a lot else to be honest.” She held out her hand.

“I’m Jo,” the blonde started as she sat back in her chair. “I spent 5 years at med school and almost 3 years further training before deciding I didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. About 7 months ago I stopped talking to all my friends and barely left my flat. Funny story about that actually, this police officer turned up…”

Her joke made Yaz laugh again before Jo took her hand and shook it. “You never finished your story. The police officer turned up?”

“Oh! Yes. So my neighbours thought I’d died – probably so did most people I knew – but anyway they called the police and this young officer turned up and asked me a bunch of questions I didn’t want to answer. I basically said a bunch of stuff to appease her. Then she left and annoyingly made me think about my life that I’d previously been happily wasting so I got back in touch with my best friends and now I keep bumping in to that police officer! It’s not so bad though, she’s kinda cute.” Jo realised what she’d said a moment too late and flung her hand up to her mouth. “I’m sorry that was inappropriate. I got carried away – my mouth is wild sometimes.”

Yaz was completely taken aback. Jo thought she was cute? What did that mean? Her head was spinning. Jo looked scared – why was she scared? Oh, yeah. “Don’t worry about it,” Yaz passed it off with a small chuckle even though her mind was going wild. Then she got brave. “You’re not bad looking yourself.” Had she just flirted? This was not the plan she’d originally had in mind when she suggested starting again.

“Seriously? I’ve got paint in my hair and I just threw on the first thing I could find,” Jo scrunched her nose up as she assessed her clothes.

Yaz smiled, "the wild look suits you." They both made eye contact for a few moments before Yaz's confidence faltered. "So uh, tell me more about the paint." 

Immediately Jo launched into an explanation about how Ryan and she had been doing up the spare room. Yaz listened intently as she went off on various tangents along the way and in that moment she realised she would happily listen to Jo talk forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading your comments! Keep them coming :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo! I'm back with another chapter. I'm having to fit in writing between work at the moment, but I'm doing my best I promise! This is being posted from a small cabin outside the hospital where I'm currently waiting for people to return heart monitors. (The less taxing part of my job!).

When one of the café workers had to leave, Jo started helping out. She decided she quite liked working there. For one, there were biscuits on tap, but also it meant she saw Yaz almost every day. Jo noticed that Yaz came in a lot. At least once during her shift – only briefly if she was working with Bill – and usually after work, or before if it was a night shift. Unless she had to rush off, Jo would take her break when Yaz popped in and they would chat over tea.

Jo found the younger woman fascinating. She couldn’t put a finger on one particular reason why, but Yasmin Khan was a marvel. It was hard to believe one person could be such a great listener, so lovely and pretty easy on the eye all at once. Since they’d been talking regularly, Jo couldn’t remember a conversation with Yaz where she hadn’t laughed and smiled. Before she’d met her, Jo could barely remember what laughter was.

As Yaz left the café to head home, Jo rested her chin in her hands to watch her leave. She’d started to realise there was a weird feeling in her chest when Yaz would leave the café, like… disappointment. Maybe she needed to try and paint that out. Maybe she should paint Yaz, she was so beautiful after all.

Jo let her head sink into her hands as she realised – she had it bad.

“Oi, break’s over blondie,” Ryan joked as he sat down opposite her. “What’s up?”

She let her face reappear slightly from where she’d been hiding it, “nothin’.” Ryan raised an eyebrow, “okay fine, there is something, but you’ll just take the piss and I’m not in the mood.”

“Invite her over Jo,” he replied and stood back up. “Coffee machine needs cleaning – great distraction in the meantime.”

“Excellent,” she stood up – glad of the distraction.

Jo loved cleaning the coffee machine. Ryan didn’t understand it.

* * *

Yaz hadn’t forgotten what Bill had shown her about Jo, but she didn’t tell Jo what she knew either. It seemed more appropriate to wait until Jo told her herself. 

Yaz was washing up after dinner, but her mind was wandering to today’s conversation. Often they just chatted about their days, Yaz would ask how Jo’s spare room was coming along and Jo would ask how work was going. The more they chatted, the more Yaz learnt how strangely eccentric Jo was. For a start, she had far too much sugar in her tea – especially with the high number of biscuits she would consume at the same time. Her clothing choices seemed to be getting progressively more ‘out there’ – maybe as she became more confident. Today she’d been wearing mustard yellow braces with her rainbow striped white top and yellow trousers. It should probably have looked weird, but Yaz loved it.

“Yasmin?” 

Her thought process was interrupted by her Mum speaking.

“You’ve been washing that plate for about 5 minutes now. Everything okay?” Najia asked.

Yaz looked down at the plate, “oh, oops. Got distracted,” she smiled sheepishly and put the plate in the drying stand.

Najia grabbed a tea towel to start drying up. “Been doing a lot of that recently, something on your mind?”

The look of concern was evident on her Mum’s face – for which Yaz was not surprised. “Honestly it’s nothing bad, just work stuff.” Work stuff was a great excuse because her Mum knew she couldn’t talk about everything.

Her Mum did not seem convinced, but she left it. They finished the washing up in silence, but Yaz decided she needed some answers. “Mum,” she broke the silence as she put the last plate in the tray. “How did you know you wanted to be with Dad?”

Najia picked up the plate to dry it before replying, “I’m not sure I can put a moment on it. I guess it was a feeling that grew and I knew I didn’t want to be without him,” she smiled.

Yaz nodded, that sounded way too familiar. Seeing Jo always made her so excited and nervous, and leaving was weirdly hard for someone she’d known a matter of weeks.

“Is there someone making you feel like that?” Najia asked.

It took her a moment to form a response, a small moment of panic rising in her chest – her Mum could not know yet. “Not really, was just wondering.” There was a nod from her mother and a ‘hm’ that suggested she was not convinced, but Yaz ignored it. “I'm gonna turn in for the night, tiring shift today." She said goodnight to her parents before going to her room and flopping down on the bed, picking up her phone from the side.

_ Jo [20:47] _ :  _ Hiya Yaz, great chat today. I was thinki _

_ Jo [20:47]: Sorry, pressed send by accident _

_ Jo [20:48]: Anyway, I was thinking you should come over and visit my art room properly now it's finished. Pictures really don't do it justice. Are you free Friday night? :) _

_ Jo [20:52]: I'll even throw in dinner :) _

She couldn't help but giggle at the stream of messages, but as it dawned on her what Jo was asking she felt a whole different set of emotions. Jo was asking her round as a friend, probably. Of course it was as a friend, why would it be anything else? Yaz groaned and tried to work out how to reply. 

_ Yaz [21:03]: Sure, I'd love to see it! Dinner sounds great too. Friday night is good - I'm off over the weekend.  _

Jo replied very quickly.

_ Jo [21:04]: Great! See you at the café tomorrow :) _

Yaz loved how Jo would always end her messages with a smiley face, it was very her. She did have a gorgeous smile, always so wide and bright. Yaz loved that it was around more now. 

She thought about what her Mum had said. Seeing Jo was the best part of her day and she never missed her daily trip to the café. Their chats were everything. The last few years had been far from easy, and Yaz was grateful for the couple of friends who stuck with her through that, but Rose was married now and had a kid to think about and Clara had moved to London last year. Reconnecting with Ryan the last few months, and the care from his Gran and Graham was a lifeline, but Jo was… so very different.

As if she’d heard her thinking, her phone lit up with Clara’s name on the screen. It had been a few weeks since they’d last spoken, but somehow her best friend always managed to ring at the right time.

“Hey Clara,” she answered the phone and sat herself a bit more comfortably on the bed.

_ “Oh hey you answered first time!” _

It was a running joke between the two of them – Yaz wasn’t the best at keeping an eye on her phone. “Ha ha you’re so funny. I was just replying to a text so you got lucky. How are you doing anyway?”

_ “Pretty good thanks, just been a crazy few weeks at work. Sorry it’s been so long since I called. I do have some good news though – I’m coming home for a couple of weeks next month!” _

“Ah that’s awesome, I’ll check my shifts,” Yaz smiled at the revelation.

_ “You better be free, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” _

With Clara, that probably meant a few nights out - maybe she should take time off work. “I’ll always make time for you, you know that.”

_ “Good. Now tell me, you got yourself a significant other yet or do I need to fix you up when I'm back?"  _

Yaz rolled her eyes, Clara never really forced her into dating anyone, but she was also the only person who knew Yaz was bi and would always be pointing out cute people for her to date. Despite knowing she was only teasing, she found herself unsure how to respond. 

_ "Does this silence mean you've found someone?"  _

"No," Yaz replied a little too quickly. 

_ "Liar. Now you have to tell me - this just got interesting." _

Yaz sighed, sometimes she hated how well her best friend knew her. "It's complicated. There's this woman… I really like her, but it's not that simple. I met her at work - like I had to visit her place. Now we keep bumping into each other and she invited me over on Friday - as a friend like - but I kinda know some stuff about her that she hasn't told me yet and I feel awful"

_ "Obviously you're going to know stuff about her if you've visited her with work Yaz, that goes with the job. It can't be that bad surely?" _

"If only… trust me - it is that bad," she sighed.

_ "Well I'm sure she will tell you in her own time. The woman has invited you over Yaz, that's step 1 in my book."  _

Clara was probably right, but she also didn't know the details and Yaz couldn't tell her that. 

She managed to change the topic onto Clara's boyfriend and they chatted for a while longer before they hung up. Yaz found herself going back to Jo's texts. She smiled at the little picture of Jo that sat beside them that the older woman had insisted on Yaz taking so her picture wasn't a boring grey 'J'. She clicked on the image to enlarge it and smiled at the forcibly wide grin on Jo's face. "What are you doing to me Jo Smith?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your lovely messages! Let me know what you think.
> 
> Next up: it's Friday night...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my favourite people! Another chapter is here for your enjoyment. More gay panic because we love it!

Jo spent the whole of Friday tidying after she finished her early shift at the café. Anything that could expose her artist identity was hidden away - it was too soon for that - and the rest of the flat was put to rights as best she could.

Then there was dinner to think about. She didn't even know what Yaz liked - that and she had no food in her flat. Jo stood staring at her empty cupboards and in despair grabbed her phone.

After a short phone call to Grace she had a plan, a set of ingredients and very detailed instructions. Shopping for said ingredients turned out harder than she thought and there were at least 2 further phone calls to check she had the right things. There were good reasons she usually took people out to dinner, but she wanted this to be more special. 

About half way through cooking she had given up on tidying the kitchen - it was a lost cause for now. Miraculously the dish was looking somewhat edible and she was able to put it ready to go in the oven. Jo smiled, pretty proud of herself - at least she was until the buzzer to her flat went. The kitchen was still a mess, she hadn't changed! The buzzer went again.

Jo went over and buzzed Yaz in, running to her bedroom and pulling off her joggers and jumper to replace them with her black jeans and rainbow t-shirt. She just about made it, straightening her hair out - no time to brush it. There was a knock at the door when she left the bedroom and she went down to the front door, opening it. "Hiya Yaz!" 

Yaz looked gorgeous - her jeans and top shaped her figure beautifully. Jo had to stop herself from staring. Yaz was staring too, but had a funny look on her face. "What?"

"Your top is on back to front," she chuckled. 

Jo glanced down, "oh so it is! Teach me to get dressed in a hurry," she blushed. "I'll just go and sort that out… the lounge is just through there. Won't be a second. Well I will, I'm not that quick, just um-"

"I got it Jo, take your time," Yaz smiled and let her go.

* * *

Her curiosity got the better of her, so while Yaz was waiting for Jo to sort herself out she walked around her living room. She noticed a couple of photos has been put up since the last time she came - both of Jo with Ryan, Graham and Grace. Yaz smiled, glad she'd got something to make the place feel more homely. 

Next she assessed the book shelves - mostly textbooks or autobiographies which seemed about right. There were textbooks on everything from medicine to art and all in-between. Yaz wondered just how much stuff Jo knew. 

Out of the corner of her eye Yaz noted the mess in the kitchen and chuckled. Of course Jo was a messy cook, that fit with her nature. She resisted the urge to start clearing up. 

"Ah, you've seen that then. I was gonna tidy up but time ran away with me and then you arrived and I wasn't dressed so I rushed to the bedroom while you were coming up and… well - you saw the result of that," Jo blushed which was very sweet.

"I'd expect nothing less," Yaz smiled to put her at ease. "You look lovely by the way," she commented. Jo had brushed her hair out and sorted out her top while in her room - but if Yaz was honest, she looked pretty good with it on backwards too. 

The statement caused Jo to blush again - a fact Yaz picked up on. "You do too," she hurried out in reply before going to the kitchen. "I'll just put this in the oven then I can show you the room? That is why you're here after all." 

"Sure," Yaz replied and watched as Jo walked into the kitchen. She widened her eyes when Jo spun round on one leg suddenly to face her again. Had she just been caught staring? 

"Oh! I'm an awful host I'm so sorry it's been so long. I mean you know that anyway but you and Ryan are the only people who have been in this flat other than me and Ryan just helps himself to everything anyway 

Yaz realised Jo was going wildly off track again so decided to help her out. "I don't need a drink right now Jo, I'll wait till dinner."

Jo frowned, "I was doing it again wasn't I?"

"Yep, but I don't mind. It's kinda cute," the words slipped out before she processed them and now it was Yaz's turn to gain a pink tinge in her cheeks. 

There was a brief, slightly awkward silence between them for a moment before Jo put the dinner in the oven. "Right, let me show you all our hard work," she smiled and went back out into the hall. Yaz followed her out and into the room directly opposite.

"Oh wow," Yaz commented as soon as she walked in. "This looks amazing! You're so creative, I'd never think to do anything like this," she walked around to assess the intricate paintings all along the walls. "It's beautiful Jo." 

"I just kinda painted without a plan to be honest. It worked though didn’t it?” Jo looked over her work. 

“It really did,” she smiled. “You should use this talent Jo, you’re incredible,” Yaz commented. Jo was silent. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?” 

The blonde turned around to face Yaz, “no. You’re fine,” she told her. “I’m just gonna go check on dinner - feel free to look around.”

* * *

Jo made her way back to the kitchen and took a deep breath. She’d briefly considered telling Yaz for a second back there, but there was no way. She had a rule about this - she needed to trust someone 100% before they knew, and she barely knew Yaz, so she couldn’t really trust her - could she? She opened the oven and glanced at the food which was cooking fine - but that had only been an excuse to get out anyway. She leant against the counter, shutting her eyes for a moment and using her grounding techniques. 

When she opened them again, Yaz was stood in the door. "Sorry, I didn't want to scare you… are you sure I didn't say something wrong?"

Yaz looked genuinely concerned, maybe opening up a bit wouldn't hurt. "It's just been a while since I've made new friends. I'm out of practice," she smiled weakly. 

"Maybe this is when I should make a small confession," Yaz replied. Jo looked up at her properly - curious. "I know a bit about your history. It got flagged up when I was on the welfare case. I didn't know whether to tell you or not but I think I need to be honest with you." Now she looked nervous. Jo didn't want her to be nervous. 

"At least I don't have to break the psychotic ex wife thing to you now," she shrugged. "Any questions?"

Jo watched as Yaz thought carefully about her next words. "Was it because of her? All this? Hiding yourself away, pushing friends out, stopping doing what you love?" 

It took her an equal period of time to form an answer, deciding to pour them each a glass of wine while she did - an excuse not to make eye contact while she spoke. "When I found out she was cheating I was so angry. We had a huge row and I told her to get out. Then I went over to Grace and Graham's because I couldn't be in the house while she still was. I got a text a couple of hours later to say she was gone, but I couldn't face going home to the empty house so Grace let me stay at theirs. At 2am the police phoned me to say my house had been burnt down and I just knew… I knew it was her. I vowed I wouldn't let anyone hurt me like that again and I left. Got in my car and drove off. Not exactly far mind, but I found this place to rent the next day and moved in with nothing. I turned my phone off and that was it - I was cut from the world. I couldn't trust anyone anymore." Jo signed and turned around, handing the glass to Yaz. "What happened that day changed me and I didn't think I'd ever get my old self back. Then you turned up and completely ruined my life plan of wallowing in self-pity until I die."

Yaz was clearly taken aback by what she had said, maybe not expecting Jo to be so open. Jo herself was quite surprised at how much she was telling the woman in front of her, it somehow it felt right. "Technically it was your neighbour that phoned the police so you've got them to thank."

"Oh yeah I dropped flowers off the other day - literally - I tripped up the stairs with them and it was a bit of a mess, flowers everywhere! Sort of like spring had arrived in my hall." Yaz chuckled a little at her tangent. "Seriously though Yaz, I don't know if any other officer would have had the same 

_ Just come out with it! Tell her how you feel! _

How do you tell someone how you feel when you're not quite sure yourself?

_ Just tell her what you're thinking! _

Jo hated the arguments her brain would have with her. If she could get in there and punch it sometimes she would. 

"I told you just then - I don't trust people anymore. It was hard enough going back to Grace, Graham and Ryan and they're the nicest people on the planet. I've finally got back in touch with Martha but I still haven't told her everything, but you… I've invited you here and spilled my whole chaotic life story," well maybe not  _ all _ of it, "that's huge for me. And I just… I need to say…" she stumbled over her words and started to panic.

Yaz took a step forward. "That's brilliant Jo, seriously. You're making steps forward and I'm glad I can be a part of that. Take your time," she reassured her.

It wasn't enough. Jo felt the panic start to rise in her chest and her breathing get out of control. "I'm sorry I can't do this, you need to go I'm really sorry," Jo put her glass down and legged it to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and sliding down it. She heard Yaz call her name and try to talk to her, but she needed her to go. "Just leave Yaz!"

It wasn't meant to sound so hard, but it worked and a few moments later the front door closed and she was finally alone.

Again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops... sorry... I'll go hide and carry on writing. Meanwhile feel free to be annoyed in the comments, because quite frankly I'm annoyed at me too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly as surprised as the rest of you that I'm finally posting again. Writing has been so hard recently ergh. Anyway, have some more gay panic.

Yaz was on rest days over the weekend, but she spent most of it in bed replaying the events of Friday night. Jo looked so scared and upset for that split second before she ran off. She’d text Ryan to tell him Jo needed a friend before turning her phone off. Occasionally her family would pop in, but she passed it off as a stomach bug to them. 

Sunday night had arrived and Yaz had put the TV on for some background noise. She hadn’t even noticed the knock at the front door until one came on her bedroom door. It was pushed open slowly and Ryan stuck his head in. 

“What are you doing here?” Yaz asked groggily.

“Nice to see you too,” Ryan made his way in. “Honestly I just got tired of waiting for you to turn your phone back on, figured you’d wallowing like your girlfriend.” 

“My gi- Ryan! I barely know her,” she sat up and flicked the TV off. 

He just shrugged in response. “What’s your excuse for this then? Not sure I’m buying the stomach bug story from your Mum.”

“I just…” she started, but saw the knowing look from Ryan and sighed. “I guess I feel bad for upsetting her. I know what happened with her ex and the house, I shouldn’t have pushed it.” 

Ryan sat himself down dramatically on the bed next to her, “please don’t make me do this again. I’ve spent hours with Jo this weekend trying to convince her you don’t hate her.” 

Yaz looked at him properly now, “really?” 

“Yes really! You two are so dumb,” he groaned. “Look, it’s not my placed to tell you Jo’s story. She’s only recently told me a lot of it. After the fire she disappeared, we didn’t hear from her for six months until you visited that time - that in itself tells me you must have had an impact. We have a lot to thank you for there Yaz. What I have learned recently is that Jo still has a lot she’s not telling anyone. She’s really fragile and scared.”

“And I just left her there,” Yaz realised. “Pretty shit job I’m doing - police officer or friend.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “oh shut up with the self-pity. Yes, you did. She asked you to leave - that’s fair enough. It’s the turning your phone off and hiding in your room that’s the issue. Jo has been trying to apologise to you.” 

“She - for what?” Yaz asked genuinely.

“Shouting at you apparantly. I think she has some stuff to explain,” he told her. “Look just get yourself up and I’ll meet you outside.” 

* * *

_ Friday night _

Ryan had turned up on her doorstep unexpectedly. Jo had finally calmed herself down enough to be able to move and open the front door. Secretly she hoped Yaz had come back, but instead Ryan stood there holding a bag of food and a coffee. Jo just stood there, a little confused. “You gonna let me in or what?” 

She moved slowly to the side, allowing him in. As she did Jo noticed the time - Yaz had been gone a couple of hours now. It was getting kind of late. “It’s late,” she pointed out.

“Hence the coffee. That’s for me. The food - that’s yours,” he put it down on the side and gestured to the meal on the side. Jo realised Yaz must have taken it out of the oven before she left. “Gran insisted so you better eat it or she’ll be very offended.”

Jo nodded, “why are you here though?” 

“Yaz text me, something about you suddenly asking her to leave? She seemed concerned. What happened Jo?” Ryan watched as Jo put the food in the microwave to warm up. She didn’t reply. “You were looking forward to tonight, what happened?”

“I panicked,” she finally admitted, tears brewing in her eyes. “I panicked and I really screwed up Ry.” 

Slowly Ryan approached her, getting her to sit at the table while he sorted the food. “What actually happened?” 

Jo took a deep breath before telling him how nervous she had got before Yaz arrived, how she lost track of time and wasn’t ready when she got here. She explained how the other woman knew about River and the fire, how she’d opened up to her about her past. “I almost told her about ‘The Doctor’. Almost. I couldn’t though, how can I trust someone that quickly? I don’t know she wouldn’t go off and tell everyone.”

Placing the food down, Ryan sat opposite her. “The fact you even considered telling her suggests you know you can trust her. I’m not saying you should call and tell her right this second, but it says something. Is that why you asked her to leave?”

“If only,” Jo grumbled and stuck a forkful of rice in her mouth, her free hand supporting her head. 

While he waited for Jo to continue, Ryan stole a piece of chicken from her bowl and sipped his coffee. One thing he knew about Jo was that you had to give her time - her brain worked differently. She’d once explained it like all the thoughts were whizzing around her head and she had to chase the right one. Jo had a lot of though, she was very smart - Ryan assumed this meant it could be hard to chase the right one. 

“I was gonna ask her out,” she finally spoke after a couple more mouthfuls. “Like… on a date,” she clarified.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, “you mean you listened to my advice?” 

“Your advice was to invite her over. I already did that,” Jo pointed out. They had such a sibling like relationship, the come back was inevitable. “I just… I really like her Ry and… well I’ve messed it all up now anyway.” She slumped back down. 

“How exactly have you reached that conclusion?” he questioned. “For someone with such a logical brain you’ve sure jumped a few steps here.” 

Jo looked up at him like he was missing the obvious. “I shouted at her to leave for no reason. Why would she want to come back?”

“Dunno maybe you should ask her,” he replied. “Seriously though Jo - just call her tomorrow once you’ve both had a good night’s sleep. Yaz understands you’ve had a rough time of it - she’ll listen.” 

There was silence while she finished eating and chewed over what Ryan had said. Jo hated when he was right - which he often was. Somehow Ryan had a way of understanding what she was trying to get at. He was a good mate. 

“You look shattered. Get to bed. Want me to pop round tomorrow?” he asked.

Jo shrugged, “are you gonna make me watch football?”

“Only if you don’t call Yaz,” he smirked. “See you tomorrow.”

* * *

When Yaz turned her phone on she saw there were 4 missed calls from Jo and 2 from Ryan. There were also a number of texts, mostly from Jo. The last one had been sent that morning.

_ I should stop texting now, I’m sorry for the spam. My runaway mouth apparently runs into texts. I don't normally text, more of a voice note girl. Anyway, sorry Yaz. I should've been a better friend and it was out of order.  _

She shook her head, putting her phone away and heading out to meet Ryan. "Are we going over?"

"Nope. We are going to an art gallery," Ryan replied.

"Uh… aren't they all shut? It's like 8pm on a Sunday," she pointed out.

Ryan shrugged, "suppose they are yes."

He offered no further explanation and instead just started driving. 

* * *

_ Saturday _

Ryan had got stuck at the café for a while after a small flood in the kitchen. He finally got to Jo around 4pm and when he arrived she was in a bit of a state. There were art supplies all over the flat and she was covered in paint and… glue? "Uh-what?"

"She isn't answering the phone. I tried calling and texting but there was no answer. I got stressed, so I starting painting. It got a little out of hand," she blew some hair out of her face. "Ryan I'm a mess."

"No kidding," he replied. "Go and and have a shower and I'll start clearing up some of this."

Once Jo was out of the room he dug out his phone and tried to call Yaz. Her phone was turned off. 

_ When you get this, ring me. We need to talk.  _

He put his phone away and carried on tidying. How did he end up in the middle of his two friends having a crisis over each other? "Nobody trained me for this," he sighed and carried on. He needed to sort this out before he went mad, let alone the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh the stress is real. Maybe they'll sort some shit out soon...
> 
> In the meantime leave me some comments, it might kick my writing brain into action ;). Love to you all xx


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're buckled in and ready for this because it is a wild ride. Also there is a LOT of artistic licence used with this chapter but shh.

_ Sunday morning  _

“Jo. Chill out, seriously you’re gonna wear a hole in the carpet,” Ryan told her. “Look maybe you just need to stop thinking about it for now. Maybe she just needs time - maybe she’s been working?” 

Jo sighed, “or maybe she hates me and I really have screwed it all up.” 

“Yaz doesn’t hate easily, she never has,” Ryan replied. “Sometimes that’s been to her downfall, but mostly it’s a great asset. Things in her past… well, I think they had a big impact on her. I don’t know a lot, but you hear stuff on the grapevine - teenagers talk,” he shrugged. “All I’m saying is that maybe there’s more to this than you know. Maybe… maybe you’re not the only one who’s scared,” Ryan told her. 

As Ryan spoke, Jo took the information in. With everything spinning around her brain she hadn’t even considered that maybe Yaz was struggling to process this too. She stopped mid pace, spinning around to face Ryan. “Yaz has been hurt before?” 

“It’s not my story to tell Jo. Besides, things get blown up when they’re passed around kids. I’ve never spoken to her about it - to be honest I’d forgotten until recently,” he explained.

Jo nodded slowly, working something out in her head. “I’ve been approaching this all wrong,” she suddenly jumped a little. “I have an idea! I need your help.”

“Of course you do.” 

* * *

Ryan pulled up outside of the gallery. "Off you go then, this is the point where I finally get to go home and have a break." 

"Wait, what? Ryan it's literally closed," Yaz was completely bemused. 

He rolled his eyes, "that's why I have a key," he handed it to her. "Up the stairs to the second floor. Third door on the right. Don't leave until this is sorted out because honestly I'm really tired after this weekend." 

Yaz climbed out of the car, "sort out what exactly?"

"Your love life!" Ryan leaned over and shut the door, driving off before Yaz could reply.

Left with no real choice, given she was now on the other side of Sheffield in the dark, Yaz made her way to the front door of the building and, despite being sceptical, turned the key. She was somewhat surprised when the door pushed open and the automatic lights flicked on in the hall. As instructed, she went upstairs to the second floor and counted to the third door on the right. 

_ 'Gallery 3' _

Still bemused, Yaz opened the door carefully to find Jo stood in the corner. She looked nervous, was she counting?

"2 minutes 46 seconds," she spoke so quietly Yaz almost didn’t catch it.

“Huh?” she asked. 

Jo looked up properly, “oh, sorry. I count when I’m nervous. That’s how long it took you from the front door to here.” 

“Oh, that’s kinda cool - I’d never have a clue. How come you’re nervous?” Yaz asked.

“Don’t wanna mess this up again,” Jo sighed. “There’s a lot to say and I’m kinda rubbish at getting words out. Well, no, I can get words out. I’m amazing at getting words out - can talk for the world, but sometimes they come out in the wrong order or at the wrong volume. Sometimes I get totally the wrong words and sometimes I let the wrong words out too,” she paused. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted.” 

Yaz shook her head, “Jo it’s fine. I’m the one that just gave you radio silence for 2 days. I’m really bad with… feelings and stuff sometimes.” There was a moment of silence between them before Yaz continued. “So, why here?” 

Another pause. Jo took a deep breath before she replied, “like I said, I’m rubbish with words. I needed to show you. This is a  _ huge  _ risk for me, but I feel like I can tell you.” The next breath was shaky and Jo was clasping her hands together - palms sweaty. 

“Jo I swear to you, whatever it is I’m here and I’m listening. I know in reality we’ve not known each other long and it's all a little… weird, but I like you," she spoke calmly but with enough firmness in her voice to tell Jo she was being genuine. The blonde nodded a little, but started pacing a little. "Jo I can practically see your brain swirling around the room let alone your head. Sit down for a sec before you make me dizzy."

Jo let Yaz guide her carefully to the bench in the centre of the gallery. "Did you know that Picasso learned to draw before he could walk?" Jo suddenly spoke. "His first word was 'pencil'. Well, actually it was  'lápiz' because he spoke Spanish but you get the idea. I dunno what my first word was, but I always remember drawing and spinning. Oh, and Van Gogh painted The Starry Night while he was staying in a psychiatric hospital. It's actually a picture of the view from his window - or how he saw it anyway. That's why I love art - it's like science but… wilder. Even in art everything can be precise and organised. I have control over what's going on the canvas. Oh! Did you know-"

"Jo," Yaz interrupted her. "As much as I like hearing all the facts, I kinda feel you're using them to ignore why you've asked me here? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing you feel more comfortable here. Your flat isn't  _ really _ your home. You moved there after a terrible situation, it was only meant to be temporary. Art is something you've had for years, that's why it feels safe?" Jo nodded in agreement. "Cool. I like that you feel safe here. I like that you are willing to open up to me, but that doesn't mean you have to tell me everything at once if you're not comfortable." Yaz watched the as the woman in front of her considered what she was saying. "I think we need to start fresh. Move by the policewoman and the woman she visited thing. We've had some lovely chats in the café, you're really fun to be around and I want to get to know that side of Jo too. I want you to be able to talk to me when you're ready, not because you're afraid I'll leave."

Suddenly Yaz was the nervous one, praying she hadn't picked up on the wrong signals here. Only when Jo finally replied did she release the breath she hadn't noticed was being held. "Yeah, that makes sense. You're a sensible one you Yaz - 'spose they say opposites attract. Oh not that I meant- well actually, I kinda do. Uh oh it's the words thing again, hold on," she stood up, spun around and sat back down again. Yaz looked at her in confusion, but couldn't help smiling at the action. "Hi, I'm Jo. I'm a bit of a mess. A lot of a mess actually, but I really like talking to you and I want to get to know you better and I was sort of hoping you might go on a date with me?"

Her hands were grasped together again so Yaz carefully nestled one of hers in, watching Jo's face all the time to make sure she was comfortable. "Hey, I'm Yaz. I think you're incredible. I've not said yes to a date since high school, but there's a first time for everything right?"

"... is that a yes?" Jo questioned.

"Yes! Yes, it is. Sorry - must be clearer in future," Yaz blushed. 

"You've really not been on a date since high school?" Jo asked, the mood lightening significantly now. Yaz shook her head. "But you're really hot!"

Yaz laughed, her previous blush resurfacing. "I said I'd not said yes, not that I hadn't been asked. Anyway - you care to explain how you just happen to be in an art gallery this late on a Sunday night?"

Jo shrugged, "I know the owner and art makes me happy. Sometimes I can stay after opening hours. Anyway - let's go on that date!" she jumped up. 

"Y'what?" Yaz stood up after her, but Jo had already disappeared into the adjoining room. She followed through the door and found the next room contained a blanket on the floor with food around it. A picnic in an art gallery - Yaz had to chuckle. It was adorable. 

"I'm glad y'said yes otherwise this would've been awkward," Jo smiled. "This is my  _ favourite _ room in the building. Have a lie down." 

"A lie down?" Yaz checked she heard right.

"Yep," Jo replied and did indeed lie on the floor. Yaz lay beside her, hands under her head to look at the ceiling. A few seconds later Jo pressed a button on a remote that seemed to have appeared from nowhere and the lights went out. The darkness was soon taken over by the projection of stars on the ceiling. 

Yaz gasped, "oh wow. I read about this - didn't that anonymous artist pay for them to be installed in here? What's their name… oh yeah! The Doctor. Great name," she smiled in the starlight. 

"They have great taste too. This is a completely accurate picture," Jo replied. 

"Is this all their art in here too?" Yaz asked. 

"Yeah, guess that makes sense. I mostly come for the stars though."

* * *

_ "Is all their art in here too?"  _

It was always weird having conversations about herself like this, but Jo had decided now was definitely not the time to tell Yaz. She'd passed off her excuses about being here now and as they lay on the floor underneath her star ceiling and surrounded by her art, Jo felt comfortable about the decision. 

Yaz was right, she needed to tell her all this when they knew each other better. One step at a time rather than jumping to the top floor. It was clear Yaz had some things to tell her too, but right now they were starting at the beginning again, except this time there was a date. 

They ended up spending almost 3 hours just relaxing on the floor. Once they realised that eating would be difficult while lying, they went for sitting on the blankets - but left the stars on to give just enough light. Jo found herself watching Yaz more than anything else, she looked beautiful under the starlight - it caught all her features perfectly. 

"Y'know what I said earlier, about being bad with feelings?" Yaz asked as they had returned to lying side by side. 

"Mmm?" Jo responded, returning her eyes to the ceiling in case Yaz looked over and caught her staring. 

"I admitted my feelings to someone once. She was my best friend. For years we had been inseparable. She was the first person I came out to and was so supportive, at least I thought she was. One night I finally plucked up the courage to tell her how I felt and she kissed me…" Yaz paused to gather herself. "It had all been a lie. She pulled her phone out and took a picture and then spread it round the whole school saying I had forced myself on her. She outed me to the whole school that day. I've never let myself get close to someone since then." 

Giving in to her brain, Jo looked over at Yaz again and noticed a tear sliding down her cheek. She instinctively reached over and wiped it away, but Yaz flinched. "Sorry! Sorry that was a stupid idea." 

"No, it wasn't," Yaz turned on her side to face Jo now. "Just wasn't expecting it s'all."

Jo turned to face her too and they were so close their noses were almost touching. "I wish you hadn't gone through that. Wish I could take it all away and make it better," Jo spoke quietly. "I will never knowingly hurt you, I swear to that. I'm gonna show you what it's really like to have someone like this." She saw a couple more tears leak from Yaz's eyes. "Can I?" 

Only once she had agreement from Yaz did she move her thumb to cup her cheek and carefully wipe the tears away. Once they were gone however, she didn't remove her hand. "Show me what it's really like," Yaz muttered. They both knew what she meant. Jo closed the gap between them and kissed her gently on the lips.

Under the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!! I love reading all your comments.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You enjoyed the soft? Good, because now have some drama...

When Yaz woke up the next morning she couldn't help but smile. The memory of the night before was fresh in her mind and it couldn't have been a nicer evening. Unfortunately, she now had a 12 hour shift at work. The late night maybe wasn't her finest hour, but she didn't regret it one bit. 

She turned her phone screen on, squinting at the bright light before realising there was a message from Jo sent 5 minutes ago. 

_ Jo [05:55] Morning, hope you're not too tired for your shift today. Stay safe x _

Yaz sat up in bed, grinning at her phone and forming a reply. 

_ Yaz [6:01] You should still be asleep! I'm a little tired, but I regret nothing. Thank you for last night x _

Regrettably, Yaz got herself up out of bed to get ready. Another text came through while she was putting her hair up. 

_ Jo [6:14] Nah I'm an early bird me. Up to see the sunrise! x _

_ Yaz [6:15] You're on opening at the café aren't you? ;) x _

_ Jo [6:15] Caught me. Should have known dating a cop would reduce my ability to lie x _

_ Yaz [6:17] Mmm careful, lying to an officer is an arrestable offence x  _

_ Jo [6:18] Oh maybe I didn’t think this through very well… x _

Yaz chuckled, she was adorable even over text.

_ Yaz [6:20] I’ll let this one slide ;). Now get yourself ready for work, I’m leaving now. I’ll try and pop in this morning :) x _

_ Jo [6:21] Uh oh I’m due at the café in 10 minutes!!! See you later - unless Grace has me pot washing all morning as a punishment x _

Deciding not to reply to that one, given Jo was running late enough, Yaz stuck her phone in her pocket and made her way into work. She hadn’t even noticed the smile plastered across her face until it was pointed out to her.

“Well I’m very much looking forward to our shift today,” Bill was leaning against the lockers as Yaz put her bag inside. 

She glanced over, “how come?” 

“You’ve  _ definitely  _ got a story to tell me,” she smirked. 

Yaz rolled her eyes and shut the locker door. “Who says?” 

“Your face does. You’ve got the widest grin on your face which, considering it’s 6:30 on a Monday morning, suggests you’ve got something - or someone - on your mind,” Bill replied and threw the car keys at her. “We’re off on patrol, should have plenty of time!”

* * *

Jo legged it over to the café and arrived at 6:34 - not bad considering. She threw her bag in the back room and went to find Grace in the kitchen. 

“Morning love,” Grace smiled.

Confused, Jo replied, “I’m late.” 

Grace nodded, “I’m impressed you managed only 4 minutes. Lost me a bet you have,” she chuckled.

“What bet?” Jo asked, still confused.

“Oh well last night Graham, Ryan and I were arguing over how late you were going to be this morning after your night with Yaz. Graham was optimistic - said you’d still me on time. Ryan had 5 minutes, I had 10,” she chuckled. “Now I owe Ryan a tenner.” Grace looked over at Jo again. “It’s alright love, we were only messing about. Ryan just warned me you might have a late night. Did you?” 

Jo thought back, “‘spose it was kinda late. I didn’t notice,” she smiled at the thought. “Did Ryan tell ya what I had planned?” she asked while tying her apron up.

Grace handed her the ingredients she needed for the scones - a recipe that Jo had mastered (even if she wasn’t the tidiest cook). “Nope, said that was your secret to tell.” 

Not picking up on the hint, Jo nodded. When she noticed Grace was still looking at her, she put the pieces together. “Oh! Did you want to know?” 

“You know me, love a good romance story,” Grace smiled and got back to what she was doing as Jo started.

“It was  _ almost  _ perfect. I mean, originally I had this huge plan to tell her about me - about The Doctor - but I couldn’t in the end. S’fine though, it was Yaz that made me realise it was too soon. Was only doing it because I was scared of losing her, but that’s not the right reason. Still, we moved past that and we talked about stuff and then I asked her if she wanted to go on a date and she said yes! That was kinda lucky because it was set up in the next room. Oh! We were at the art gallery - you know in my section? Well-” Jo continued on, telling the story of how the date had gone while making her scones. It was lucky that she could make these without thinking too much, because she was barely paying attention.

A good 20 minutes later, with scones in the oven and ingredients all over the kitchen, Jo finished off explaining how she’d driven Yaz home. Grace had listened intently the whole time and when Jo finished talking, she was watching her closely. “Did I talk too much? Sorry you know what my mouth is like. I’ll clean up the mess too I promise.”    


The older woman shook her head, “no I was just thinking how long it’s been since you talked about someone like this. You really like her don’t you?” 

Jo bit her lip and nodded, “yeah I do. I’m scared of it, kinda, but I do.”

“Good,” Grace replied.

“Good?” 

“Yes. You deserve to be happy,” she told her. “Now switch that radio on and start tidying. It’s nearly time to open.”

* * *

Bill had been digging for answers the whole shift. Yaz gave her the minimum she needed to know for now, but she didn’t really mind telling her little bits. It had been a fairly uneventful morning, but just as their break was approaching, they got a call. 

_ “We’ve had a call from the ambulance service. They’ve got a call for a patient at a residential property - someone’s fallen, however there have been reports of others at the property with knives - potential break in. Reports seem a little vague, but they’d like police assistance.”  _

Both women were a little shocked at what they were hearing, but the address came through and they made their way over. Bill was driving, Yaz listening for more information. It was one of those calls that put your heart in your mouth as you drove. Those couple of minutes speeding to the scene felt far too long, but finally they spotted it. “I can’t say this is what I was expecting,” Bill said as she jumped out of the car.

Yaz stepped out too, “nice place,” she commented before they were joined by other officers who had arrived. They senior officer directed them and before they knew it, they were inside searching the house. Shouts of ‘clear!’ were heard all over before they came across the injured woman in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Yaz glanced around the room to make sure it was otherwise empty, before rushing to her side as the paramedics hadn’t made it in yet. There was bleeding from her stomach which Yaz immediately put pressure on. “Hey, my name’s Yaz, I'm a police officer. There are paramedics on their way up as we speak. Can you tell me what happened?” 

She winced at the pressure. “I’d just come back from the shop, these kids followed me in… didn’t get a chance to react,” she managed to get out. “They had a blade - maybe around 4 inches? Quite thin. Only got me once I think.” 

“I won’t press you for details now. What’s your name?” Yaz asked, but was interrupted before the woman could reply and let the paramedics take over. A senior officer in the room suggested Yaz take a break so she stepped out of the room, leaning against the wall in the hallway. 

Bill found her there. “You alright? How’s the woman doing?” 

“One stab wound to the abdomen, seems alert. Paramedics are with her now,” Yaz briefly glanced back round into the room. “Something seems familiar about her.” 

“Don’t worry yourself over it, they’re doing their job now. Why don’t we go and grab our water from the car and get some air? That’s a lot of adrenaline,” she put an arm around Yaz supportively and guided her out as said adrenaline crashed through Yaz’s body. 

Yaz just followed, grateful to get out into the fresh air. She gulped it in, trying to get her head around what had just happened. “Any sign of the people that did this?” 

“No, but the house seems to have CCTV everywhere so we’re going to get a look at that,” she explained. “They’ve got people scouting the area too - doing door to door ‘n’ all that.” 

Finally she looked up and realised there were officers at most of the local doors. “Shouldn’t we be helping?” 

“I’ve been instructed to make sure you take a break,” Bill unlocked the car. “Get in, have a drink, let’s break the emergency chocolate out.” 

“Now that’s something I can get on with,” Yaz smiled a little and jumped in the car for a minute. “Just as Bill shut her door, the paramedics came out with the woman from the house on a stretcher. Yaz watched as they wheeled her by the car. Her hair… it reminded her of someone. She definitely knew that face. Then, for a split second that face turned and looked at her. 

Bill broke the silence beside her, “oh my gosh. Is that her?” Yaz nodded. “Yaz you know who that is right?” 

“I recognise her, but I don’t know where from,” she replied, following the path of the stretcher back to the ambulance. 

“That’s your girlfriend’s psychotic ex-wife! I thought she’d left the country,” Bill whistled out. “Oh boy, can’t believe she’s got the balls to come back to Sheffield.” 

Immediately, Yaz felt the anger boil up inside her. She briefly considered running over to her and screaming, but that would be unprofessional. Flashes of thoughts that she wished she hadn’t helped her crossed her mind. She couldn’t find words to explain how she felt in that moment, or indeed to reply anything remotely useful to Bill. Instead she decided to look away and sip at her water. 

Bill was watching her closely, but didn’t say anything - giving Yaz the space to process it. She was a good friend really, Yaz had decided. Maybe this partner thing wasn’t so bad after all. The silence was eventually broken by a knock at the window, their sergeant standing there. Bill wound the window down. “How are you both doing? Great work in there PC Khan,” he commented. 

“Thanks sir. We’re fine,” she replied. Complete lie, but that's none of his business.

“Good. We’ve managed to identify the woman who was injured, she’s very grateful for your intervention by the way. Would you two mind informing the next of kin?” He handed over a piece of paper to Bill. Both women looked at it and were shocked at the name on the piece of paper. 

“Sir, are you aware-” Yaz started.

Sargeant Osman nodded, “well aware of the previous case. Unfortunately, no charges were brought against Ms Song, and she is insistent we contact Ms Smith. It’s up to Ms Smith to decide what she does with the information. Am I still okay to leave this with you?” 

Bill agreed for the both of them, while Yaz was still staring at the name and address on the piece of paper. They had the address from when she had been over. “I’ll do it,” Yaz immediately said when the window was closed. “It should be me that Jo hears this from.” 

“I’ll wait in the car, if you’re really sure?” Bill asked.

Once in agreement, they began to drive over. This was going to be tough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look it wasn't always gonna be plain sailing now was it...? Sorry pals! Hope you enjoyed anyway, please leave a comment if you can :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy here we go. Hope you're in this for the long haul, because things just got INTENSE. 
> 
> Shoutout to the commenters on the last chapter, you peeps really made me smile.

Jo was mid-painting when the door knocked. She wiped herself down with an old rag quickly before jogging to open it. “Yaz! Hiya, what are you doing here? You’re still at work right? Well, obviously, you’re still in uniform. What’s… Yaz, what’s that on your hands?” 

Glancing down, she suddenly realised she never washed her hands after treating River. “Shit, I forgot… oh gosh this isn’t a good start. Can I use your sink? I um… I need to talk to you,” Yaz panicked. How had she forgotten to wash her hands? 

Jo moved out the way to let her in. “Yaz are you okay? What’s going on?” 

Immediately she made her way to the sink and started to wash the blood off. “Honestly if my boss could see me now he’d be fuming,” she sighed. “I thought I could do this… I’m so sorry. I’m messing this up.” 

Instinctively, Jo stuck the kettle on and started to make tea. “Yaz seriously, what you going on about? As nice as it is to see you, I’m really quite confused.” 

Eventually, with a lot of scrubbing, her hands were clean and Yaz took the mug of tea from Jo. “Let’s sit down,” she made her way to the dining table. Jo followed and they sat. “I’m gonna start this again. I’m sorry about that, everything was kinda mad. I’ve actually been sent here on duty.” 

“Y’know I’m fine today right? We had a lovely evening - definitely not alone anymore,” Jo chuckled. Yaz didn’t. “That’s not what you’re here about. That was blood on your hands…” 

“Yeah, it was. It was River’s blood,” Yaz gripped the cup, but she kept eye contact with Jo. This was her job. “She was attacked at home, a group of people broke in and stabbed her. She was stable when they took her to hospital. You’re still down as her next of kin, she insisted we talk to you. I did challenge it, but as there were ultimately no charges against her, we legally have to carry out her request.”

Jo took a deep breath, watching the steam coming from the mug. “I haven’t seen her since that day. I thought she was in America, but here we are again. Guess it didn’t work out with the boxer.” 

Yaz watched on with concern, trying to work out what she was thinking. “There was no sign of anyone else in the house, but it was kind of a mess.” Jo nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Can I do anything? Phone anyone?” 

“I know you’re on the job and this is meant to be professional, and you’re doing it very well, but can I just have Yaz for a moment?” Jo asked. 

She thought about that for a second before unzipping her stab vest, sliding it off and pulling her hair out of its usual bun to rest down her left side. Yaz stood up, moving her chair round so she was sat right next to Jo, their knees almost touching. “I can’t really take anything else off, that might cross the inappropriate line even in normal circumstances.” 

“S’okay, I can wait for that,” Jo mumbled - trying to joke to ease the situation, but Yaz could see she was uncomfortable. 

“Want a hug?” Yaz asked. “I know you said yesterday that physical contact is still hard-” Jo shook her head, stopping Yaz in her tracks as the blonde immediately pulled her close. The moment they were in contact she started crying. Yaz held her tight, giving her the space to let it all out. It wasn't harsh sobs, but she could feel the warm tears on her shoulder. 

Jo held her tight, not letting go for at least 5 minutes. She finally loosened her grip, but refused to let Yaz pull away too far and taking her hands to keep that contact between them. "I had no idea she was back. I don't want to see her Yaz, I really don't."

"You don't have to. My job was just to inform you, you don't have to go anywhere," she told her. "My next job is to go to the hospital though…" 

Jo rubbed her thumbs along Yaz's fingers. The simple action made Yaz's stomach flip, but she had to ground herself again. "Don't let her get to you. Don't let her find out about us, she will use it," Jo spoke. 

"Simply professional, promise. Do you want to be kept updated?" Yaz asked, squeezing her hands reassuringly. 

"I...I don't know. I just want to know that you're okay, I don't really want to think about her." Yaz noticed that Jo hadn't used River’s name once in this conversation. "Can you come over after your shift? I'll make dinner?"

"I can definitely come over, but I'll pick dinner up. My treat this time. Just make sure you've had a shower before then eh?" Yaz smiled a little as she noted the paint that had ended up on her top. Jo's mouth dropped open as she panicked a little. "Don't stress, my vest will hide it all. Small price to pay to make sure you're alright. You been busy?" 

Jo shrugged, "just fancied doing something when I got back from the café. Might have a nap now - this has kind of tired me out."

"Sounds good. I'd better get going. Just call me if you need anything, or if you change your mind. Not that I'm saying you will, just… it's an option. I have to say that." 

Yaz stood up, regrettably letting go of Jo's hands to put her vest back on and tie her hair up - less neat than before, but it would have to do. "Don't let her get to you Jo. You've been doing so well."

There was a small nod from the blonde woman. "Thank you. I'm sorry, about all this, you shouldn't have to deal with my baggage."

"Yes I should," Yaz paused what she was doing and looked directly at her. "Jo I didn't just sign up for breaking into art galleries last night. I signed up for you - all of you," Yaz ran a hand down her arm and linked their fingers. "Baggage and everything." 

Jo stared at her in shock, like nobody had ever said that to her before. Maybe they hadn't. "We can talk later, but don't ever apologise for things you can't control. We're a team now." 

Once Jo was reassured, Yaz made her way down to the car and got back in beside Bill. "How'd it go in there?" Bill asked, genuinely concerned. “Yaz?” she added when there was no reply.

“Hm? Oh, sorry. Just thinking. She doesn’t want to see her, gave her the usual speeches,” Yaz shrugged. 

“And off the record?” Bill asked. 

“She’s so fragile. We had a conversation about it before, what happened, but when I told her River was back in the area it was like seeing the woman I first met again,” she sighed. “Anyway, we’ve got things to do. Thanks for letting me do that.” 

Bill shook her head, “no worries. Let’s get this done.” 

* * *

There was a lot swimming around her head when Yaz walked into River’s hospital room. Apparently the woman had wanted her to be there for the interview, which made sense given Yaz was the first one to find her, but it didn't make the underlying feelings of anger and guilt lessen. Bill was speaking to the officers who had been guarding her since she arrived, but the noise was background to Yaz who was trying to calm her mind down before they did this. She heard the key points - River was stable, they were monitoring her, the knife had avoided major organs. 

Everytime she looked at the woman lying on the bed, her mind flashed back to the woman she left in the flat and she felt a pang of guilt in her chest. The look on Jo's face was awful, especially after them having such a perfect evening the day before. Jo deserved better than this, Yaz was determined to try and put it right. She just wasn't sure what 'it' was yet. “Hey, you good to do this?” Bill whispered, facing away from River. 

Yaz nodded, taking the lead and walking over to River. “Ms Song, how are you doing?” 

“Alright, I suppose,” she adjusted herself a little in the bed, wincing slightly, “thanks to you that is."

"Just doing my job. Speaking of which, we need to ask you some questions if that's okay?" She got straight to the point, not wanting to be in here any longer than she needed. "Can you take us through what happened?"

River explained how she had got back from the shop and found the two young men in her house. She tried to get them to leave when they attacked her. She listed things she had seen them take while Yaz took notes. "Great. So can you describe the men you saw?" 

The descriptions were pretty vague - not hugely surprising, but it didn't provide her with much confidence that they would easily track them down. "Did you manage to speak to my wife?" River asked when she finished. Yaz kept writing for a moment, eyes fixed on the page in front of her. 

"She has been informed,” Bill took over the situation for Yaz. “Is there any other information you think could be relevant at this time?” 

“I don’t think so,” River replied. “Is Jo here?” 

Yaz shut her notepad, “she declined to come with us.” The statement was final. She went into her top pocket and pulled out a card, handing it over. “If you think of anything, give us a ring. There will be officers around for the moment anyway, so you can talk to them also. We’re done for now. Thank you for your help Ms Song.” 

With that, they left. Yaz couldn’t stand to stay any longer. Bill patted her shoulder, “well done. I’d have probably gone mental at her if the shoe was on the other foot.” 

“We’re lucky it wasn’t then aren’t we,” Yaz replied. “Thanks for having my back. I s’pose having a partner isn’t all bad. Even if you do make a mess in the car.” 

“Watch it - I’m still your senior,” Bill winked and laughed. “Let’s get back to the station and do the paperwork so we can go. You’ve got somewhere to be, if I’m not mistaken?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Yaz rolled her eyes, nudging her. “You’re not gonna shut up about it are you?” 

“Yaz, I’m a lonely lesbian, I’m living vicariously through your relationship,” Bill pointed out as if Yaz should have known. “I’m still waiting for more details on last night.” 

She groaned, “only if you buy me tea.” 

“Deal!” Bill grinned, and dived into the cafeteria. Yaz waited outside, digging her phone out. She had felt it vibrate earlier. 

_Jo [18:03]: can we have pizza? x_

_Yaz [18:17]: of course. Any preferences? x_

_Jo [18:18]: as long as you’re the one bringing it, I co_ _uldn’t care less. X_

_Jo [18:18]: but I like ham and pineapple x_

_Yaz [18:19]: of course you do. Gotta go, see you later x_

Her phone was pocketed as Bill reappeared and handed her the tea. “Was that our favourite blonde?” she asked. 

“Since when was she your favourite blonde?” Yaz questioned as they walked towards the car. 

“I mean, she is hot,” Bill shrugged. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal your woman. Just sayin’ - she’s a catch.” 

“You’re unbelievable,” Yaz rolled her eyes. “Throw us the keys?” 

* * *

The paperwork took longer than Yaz had hoped. Writing it up was only making her angry too, but Bill was keeping her spirits up as they worked. Two cups of tea later, she finally finished. They were still looking for suspects, but Bill and Yaz’s work was done for now and they could head home. Bill teased her all the way out, keeping her spirits up. Finally they went their separate ways and Yaz made her way to the pizza shop before heading to Jo’s flat. 

Thankfully she had showered and most of the paint was off her now. Yaz noted she had tidied the flat too. She also hadn’t actually said anything in the 3 minutes since Yaz had arrived. “Jo? Y’alright?” 

“Hm? Yeah. M’fine,” she muttered, grabbing plates from the cupboard.

Yaz reached a hand out to get her attention, but didn’t touch her. “No you’re not. Want to talk?” 

Jo shook her head, “just want to eat pizza and watch TV. Is that okay?” 

“Of course, whatever you need,” Yaz smiled gently and followed her through to sit on the sofa. Jo put the film on and they sat eating and watching. Well, Jo watched the film, Yaz watched Jo. She couldn’t bring herself to look away, trying to read the woman sitting beside her. The atmosphere between them was completely different to the previous night - the silence almost deafening. She couldn’t force Jo to talk to her, but she could only hope she would at some point. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more to come in this storyline don't you worry. Dunno why I decided to make River an evil psychopath, but here we are. Is there more to it? We will find out. 
> 
> Leave a little comment if you can, they do make my day! xx


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are all so nice!! Thank you so much. Hope you enjoy the next instalment, its a longer one than normal! 
> 
> Just FYI: I have no idea how most of the police system works. My only experience is through watching dramas, the occasional police dealings at work and a bit of googling, so I'm sure this isn't accurate. Author's licence n all that...

Jo woke up with a start, her breathing rate high and a sheen of sweat all over her body. She sat bolt upright, tears rolling down her cheeks. The flashes of memories which had protruded her dreams still haunted her now she was awake, staring at the bedroom door in front of her. 

She was in her bedroom. When did she get in here? They were on the sofa… she must have fallen asleep. Suddenly a little memory of Yaz guiding her to bed surfaced - she’d only been half awake at the time. Jo looked over - the other side of the bed was empty. That probably wasn’t a huge surprise given they’d only been dating for 36 hours. 

Yaz. Yaz was her… they were dating. They’d had one date, and then she’d had to save her ex-wife’s life. River was back. She was meant to be gone, Jo was moving on, she had been getting better. It was all ruined, everything was ruined and she was so scared. She needed water, her mouth dry. Jo tried to stand up, but misjudged how close she was to the edge of the bed and slipped, landing on the floor with a thud. The shock broke any form of wall she had and the sobs began.

Within seconds the bedroom door flung open and Yaz ran in. She knelt down beside her as Jo pulled her knees up to her chest, but the movement caused her pain. "Jo? What happened? Look at me babe," Yaz slowly placed a hand on her shoulder, allowing her the space to move if she didn't want it. Instead Jo leaned closer to her the moment Yaz made contact, so she put her arms around her in support. 

"You're still here," Jo muttered as her sobs slowly settled. 

"Didn't feel right to leave you alone right now. You didn't exactly handle things right last time, I wanted you to know you've still got people around you," Yaz replied honestly. 

Jo shook her head, "but you don't know me Yaz, not really, we've had like one date and now all this it's not fair." 

Carefully, Yaz shifted herself so she could make eye contact with Jo. "What's not fair is you being made to feel like this. Jo I wasn't kidding on Sunday, I really care about you. Whether we've had one date or thirty, I want to help you now. Will you let me do that?" There was a small nod. “I’m not gonna push you on anything, but I know how much it helps to have someone to help you.” 

“You’re like some kind of fairy godmother Yaz. Turned up in time to save me,” Jo muttered, almost talking without thinking.

“I think that’s a compliment?” Yaz chuckled. "Now it's 2am and I'm guessing you're tired. Why don't we go back to sleep? We can start fresh in the morning." Jo nodded again. Yaz helped her up and back on the bed. "I'll just be out there if you need me okay? You're not alone in this anymore, don't forget that." 

Jo listened to Yaz leaving the room and shut her eyes again. She wasn't alone. They would do this together. 

* * *

Work the next day was awful. Yaz pushed through, but it was less than enjoyable. Her and Bill had played their part in the case which had now been passed over to serious crime to investigate, but River's name was all over the station and Yaz could feel her stomach clench everytime the name was mentioned. People were feeling sorry for her, but something didn't sit right with Yaz.

The shift was finally coming to an end. They had less than an hour to go and they'd just broken up a fight between two teenage boys over some girl that had got out of hand and were heading back to the station when Yaz’s phone rang. “Booty call?” Bill joked. Yaz rolled her eyes and pulled out phone. It was Jo, unsurprisingly, but Bill would only carry on if she announced that.

“Hey, did you decide on dinner yet?” Yaz asked, but she was met with panicked breathing from the other end of the line. “Jo,” she saw Bill glance over at the name. “Jo what’s happened?” 

“There’s detectives here,” she started. “I don’t- I can’t- why are they here? I said I don’t want to see her Yaz, you did tell them right? Why are they here?” 

_ “Shit” _ Yaz mumbled under her breath before replying. “I gave them my statement Jo, but the case was handed over. I’m sorry, I had no idea. They- well they don’t know about us, I left that bit out… I-” she sighed, “Jo where are they now?” 

“Outside. I couldn’t buzz them up Yaz I-” there was banging in the background. Then their radios came to life.

_ ‘Message to all units. We need backup at Grange Flats to gain entry. Will any available officers please respond.”  _

Bill looked to Yaz, who nodded. “Jo, just stay where you are okay? We aren’t far away. Deep breaths, remember what we talked about last night. Nobody is going to make you do anything you don’t want to. I’ll be there really soon.” 

“You don’t half pick ‘em Yaz,” Bill commented, before picking up the radio and telling control they would take the shout, turning the car round at the next roundabout and heading towards the flats on blue lights. 

* * *

The car had barely stopped when Yaz jumped out, running over to meet the detectives at the door. “No need to panic PC… Khan,” the male detective read her name, “we just needed backup in case things get nasty. The suspect is refusing to allow us entry to the flat. We did get inside, but decided it best to wait out here until you arrived.” 

“Suspect?” was all Yaz could get out as she processed what had been said.

“Well, technically just a person of interest at the moment. Ms. Song and Ms. Smith’s marriage ended in some difficult circumstances - you know how it is, we need to ask a few questions,” he replied.

Resisting the urge to punch the man standing in front of her, Yaz shook her head. “Ms Smith is scared, and I believe suffering from what happened between the two of them. She didn’t even know River was back in the area until I spoke to her yesterday.”

"PC Khan might I suggest you do your job and let us do ours?" he argued back. 

Bill, who had managed to properly park the car and join them now, stepped in at this point, putting a hang on Yaz's shoulder to tell her to step back. "Detective Rogers, good to see you again. I see your people skills haven't improved," she greeted him. "I don't appreciate you speaking to my partner in this manner and I suggest you listen to her in this situation." 

"We aren't here to chat, we are here to speak to Ms. Smith," he replied sternly.

Yaz had noticed that his partner was stood silently behind him, looking somewhat embarrassed. "You aren't talking to her at all," Bill told him. "Is this your new partner?" 

"Yes, this is DI Franzen. She's just transferred from London."

Bill looked to Yaz, who could see where she was going with this. "Excellent. Yaz, why don't you take DI Franzen up to the flat and we will wait down here - out of the way." 

"Excuse me PC Potts, this is not your case any longer and I do not appreciate you undermining my instructions,” he replied, but when he looked back his partner and Yaz had already gone.

Inside the building, Yaz was practically running up the stairs. “I swear I will explain everything, but she was really distressed. I need to calm her down first.” 

DI Frazen, who had quickly introduced herself as Holly, followed her up. “Not a problem. Given you have a key I’m guessing…” 

“She’s… a friend. I mean, we haven’t known each other that long to be honest, but I know I should’ve said something. It's just all very complicated and I wanted to handle it professionally, I was doing, but this changes things,” they reached her flat. “Do you mind just waiting in the hall while I talk to her?”

Holly agreed, so Yaz unlocked the flat and walked in. “Jo? It’s Yaz,” she shut the flat door, leaving Holly to wait while she went to the bedroom. Jo wasn’t in there. The lounge was empty too. The art room - of course - Jo said art calms her down. Yaz pushed the door open carefully and saw her sitting in the corner of the room, tear stained cheeks and her whole body shaking. She shut the door again behind her so Jo would know nobody else was coming in. 

“I think there’s something wrong with me,” Jo muttered as Yaz knelt down beside her. “I shouldn’t be reacting like this, it’s not normal.” 

Yaz shook her head. “Jo you can’t help who you are, and what happened to you - what she did to you - it’s awful - anyone would be affected.” 

“It’s stupid though, why can’t I control it?” she asked, holding her knees close to her chest. Then her thoughts went elsewhere, “where are they?” 

“One of them is still outside - quite frankly he’s a bit of an asshole. The other DI is just in the hall, she’s much nicer and is happy to give us some space,” Yaz explained. “I’m not happy they came here, but they do need to talk to you. I’m sorry, but given the history between you and River they just… have to rule some stuff out. I know it’s a load of crap and I’m fully aware you had nothing to do with it, but it’s normal procedure,” she sighed and moved to sit beside Jo against the wall. “I’ll stay, if you want me to. Bill is keeping the asshole entertained downstairs so it’ll just be the three of us.” 

Jo let a small smile out when Yaz referred to the other detective. “You’re really special Yaz,” she leant her head down on the police officer’s shoulder. “M’glad you found me.” 

“Thanks, but maybe we’ll save the romantics for later,” she suggested. “You ready?” 

“Yeah. Um, what did you tell her - about us?” 

“Said you were a friend,” Yaz said a little nervously, “is that okay?” 

Jo pushed herself up off the floor, “yeah. Just needed to know our story,” she replied. “Don’t wanna screw up your job for you.” 

Together they went out, but Yaz left Jo in the lounge to go and fetch Holly. “Thank you for that. Any news from downstairs?” 

“Oh he’s kicking off, but I’ve got serious respect for your partner,” Holly smiled. “How’s Ms. Smith doing?” 

“Fragile, but she’s okay to talk now,” Yaz explained. “Are you actually allowed to interview on your own?” 

Holly nodded, “as long as you’re present it’ll be fine. It’s only an informal interview right now anyway. We - well, I’ve no intention of taking her down the station anytime soon.” 

They walked into the lounge. Jo was sitting on the sofa, nervously playing with her fingers. Yaz, who had flicked the kettle on earlier, quickly made a round of tea for them all while Holly began. 

Due to the open plan layout of the flat, Yaz was easily able to listen as they talked, and Jo could see her from where she sat. Holly was great, taking things slow and explaining why she had to talk to Jo. When questions were asked about her past, Jo seemed increasingly uncomfortable. Yaz took the mugs of tea over and handed them over, taking a seat beside Jo while she was speaking. “She cheated. She left. The house was gone, I was… devastated, embarrassed, broken. The last thing I heard was that she was moving to America. Since then I’ve not heard anything - I just assumed she had moved and was gone.” 

“The house was burned down the day you seperated, I’ve seen the report. Nobody was ever charged with it, but you seemed to believe it was River?” Holly questioned.

Jo looked over at Yaz, who gave her a small, but reassuring smile and left her to continue. “I know it was her, so did the police, but nobody could prove it. The case was closed, I moved on. Well, I hid in a flat on my own for 6 months, but still,” she shrugged.

The questioning continued. Holly had to ask various things, all of which felt incredibly unfair and most of which resulted in Jo becoming increasingly more nervous.Yaz resisted every instinct in her to reach out and comfort her, but she was glad when it was almost over. “The crucial question now Jo, and I promise we’re nearly done. Can you tell me where you were on Monday afternoon?” 

“I was on an early shift at work, so I finished at 2 and came home. Had a shower, then started painting one of the walls in my art room. Changed my mind on the design you see, so decided to start again,” Yaz smiled as she went on a small tangent, “sorry that’s not the point is it? I was painting. Then Yaz - sorry - PC Khan turned up and told me what had happened, so I guess I was painting the whole time,” she almost muttered that last bit as if she hadn’t realised how long it had been.

“If I may comment on that,” Yaz spoke up before Holly could reply. “When I arrived to inform Ms Smith of Ms Song’s condition, she was covered in paint - so that much I can confirm.” 

Jo suddenly sat up beside her, “oh! I sent photos to Ryan too, they’ll be time stamped right?” 

Both Yaz and Holly shared a look - this might be all they needed to get Jo off the hook. “Indeed. We’ll need to take your phone in for evidence. It should only be for a couple of days,” Holly reached in her bag for an evidence bag. Yaz nodded at Jo that it would be fine, and Jo handed her phone over. “I think that’s everything then. I’d better go and save your partner from mine,” she addressed Yaz, “should I send her up?” 

“Please,” Yaz replied, “and thank you.” 

“Least I could do. Take care,” she left herself, while Yaz finally moved to hug Jo.

“You did great,” she told her. Jo relaxed in her grasp, clearly having been tensed up for the whole interview. “Bill is coming up, you okay to meet her?” There were a couple of nods against her shoulder. Yaz could see she was tired, that wasn’t a huge surprise. As Bill knocked on the door she made a mental note to make this quick. 

Yaz went to the door, leaving Jo sipping on her tea. “Didn’t get beaten up by the big bad wolf then?” 

“When his partner came back down and said she potentially had evidence to rule Jo out he looked so pissed,” Bill grinned. 

That was pleasing to hear. “Thanks for this, I know we’re super late now. I won’t stay much longer.” 

Bill was quick to reply, “don’t be stupid mate, you’re supporting your ‘friend’” she made the quotation marks with her fingers, smirking. 

“Shut up, do you want to meet her or not?” she asked, which caused Bill to hold her hands up in surrender. “Come on then, but be gentle.” 

“Would I ever be anything else?” Bill asked. Yaz just raised her eyebrows, but didn’t reply and just showed her into the lounge. “You must be the woman who keeps making my partner smile wildly at her phone.” 

“Bill!” Yaz shook her head and put it in her hands briefly. “Jo, this is Bill, she’s really annoying.” 

Jo laughed, a sound that warmed Yaz’s heart. “Good to meet you, thanks for what you’ve done today.” 

“Ah don’t mention it mate, it was great. Sorry you had to go through that, if you want to complain or anythin’ just let us know,” Bill told her. “Thanks for cheering this one up,” she nudged Yaz. “Speaking of which - why don’t I head back to the station and you can stay here? Shift’s over after all. I’ll drop your bag round on my way home.” 

Yaz was grateful and saw her out, thanking her a few times on the way before returning to Jo. “I like her,” she commented. “You should keep her.” 

“That’s not really how it works,” Yaz replied, “but yeah - she’s good.” She slipped the top layers of her uniform off. “How are you feeling?” 

Jo shrugged, “kinda numb. I don’t know how to feel, but I’m glad to actually feel something thanks to you.” She stood up and took Yaz’s hand. “Thank you for being here.” 

“Anytime, and I mean that,” Yaz squeezed her fingers. “We’re gonna get through this.” 

“I just want to be me again, give you what you deserve,” Jo sighed. “I will, I promise.” 

Yaz smiled softly, “you don’t have to promise Jo. I trust you.” 

"You know in any other situation, you in uniform would be such a turn on," Jo mumbled. 

Yaz rolled her eyes and batted her hand away. "Cheeky sod. You can buy dinner," she turned away to go to the loo, allowing a small smirk as she did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah it's all going on, but I couldn't resist some soft moments. Let me know what you think, honestly love reading your comments!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back... again. I know the updates are the most sporadic things known to man and my other fic is currently completely abandoned (not forever) but I blame 2020. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy xx

Yaz wasn’t in work for the next two days, so she made it her mission to remind Jo she wasn't alone anymore. They went to Grace and Graham’s for dinner one day (and spent most of the time dodging relationship questions) and spent the next day at the zoo - Jo spouting out random animal facts for the whole day and completely in her element.

They went for dinner at a nearby restaurant and Yaz insisted on paying. “Is this a date?” Jo asked as they tucked into dessert. 

“If you want it to be,” Yaz replied. “That’s kinda what I was aiming for.” 

Jo thought about it for a second, “is it weird that I basically had you kidnapped for our first date, and yet our second date we haven’t even pre-planned?” 

“I’m not sure much about us could be considered anything less than weird,” Yaz replied casually. “We’ll have quite the story to tell in a few years.” As she finished speaking, it occurred to her what she had said. Jo almost choked on her brownie. “I mean, you know, depending on how things go and-” 

“You’re digging a deep hole Yaz,” Jo replied, still slightly coughing over the previously mentioned brownie.

Nodding, Yaz replied. “I am, aren't I.” She was blushing, “sorry I didn’t mean for that to get so deep so quick. I just wanted you to enjoy these couple of days.” 

"I really have, thanks Yaz," Jo smiled, moving past their little moment. "How did you know I love the zoo so much?"

"Asked Ryan," she replied. "It's handy knowing your best mate." 

Jo made a sound of agreement while finishing up the pudding. Yaz smiled, but took a moment to look down at her own plate. Jo was so much better now, but Yaz had no idea what was going on with the case until she got back to work tomorrow and something was still seeming off around the whole thing. "You gonna finish that or just stare at it?" Jo asked, bringing Yaz out of her thoughts. "Yaz are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh yeah I'm fine. Kinda full, you want the rest?" she asked. Jo eagerly accepted. 

"Are you just saying you're fine so I feel better? People do that a lot," Jo asked, tucking into the rest of Yaz's dessert. 

Yaz took a second. She didn't want to lie to Jo, but she didn't want to worry her either. "Just wondering what I'm gonna walk into tomorrow." 

"If that detective tries anything to hurt you I might change my mind on that complaint," Jo huffed. “Just look after yourself please?” 

“Of course I will,” she replied. "You gonna be alright on your own now? I could always ask Ryan-" 

Jo shook her head, "I'm okay Yaz, you've cheered me right up, see!" She put on a wild grin which made Yaz laugh. She was wonderful. 

* * *

After driving Jo back to her flat, Yaz made her way home. She successfully dodged all questions from her Mum and escaped to her room. That night’s sleep was peaceful and she had dreams of going on holiday with Jo and walking along the beach in the evening together, the sun setting behind then. When she woke up, Yaz made a mental note to do that in the near future. 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t stay in the daydream forever and went through her usual pre-shift routine. She was running late, so didn’t have time to stop at the café on her way in and just grabbed a cereal bar from the cupboard before she left. 

Bill met her in the staffroom and handed her a tea. "Spotted you coming in without your usual mug. Everything alright?"

"Thanks. Yeah, just ran late this morning. Have you heard anything?" Yaz asked. 

"River was discharged yesterday - she's staying with a friend. Oh and your detective mate dropped this off for you," Bill handed her an envelope from her pocket. 

Yaz put her mug down, taking the envelope from Bill and opening it. It took her a moment to process the piece of paper inside. "She's clear. They've cleared Jo," she felt the weight leave her shoulders immediately. "Thank goodness." 

"Excellent. How was she over the weekend?" Bill asked, seeming genuinely concerned. 

"I think I got through. Made sure to see her friends and we went to the zoo," Yaz pulled out her phone and showed some photos she'd taken. "Absolutely in her element." 

"Aww you guys are cute," Bill commented. "Bagsy best woman at the wedding." 

Yaz rolled her eyes and picked up her tea again before they went off to start the shift.

* * *

The lack of communication from Jo during the day had crossed her mind, but then she knew that the woman had said she was going to be painting again. The shift kept her busy too, which probably helped. Nevertheless, when they were driving back to the stations, nearing Jo’s place on their way, Yaz got a bad feeling. 

“What’s up with you?” Bill asked. 

“Hm?” Yaz replied, looking out the window.

“You’ve gone all quiet on me, has something happened?” Yaz bit her lip, not sure how to reply. Bill pulled the car over, Yaz noted they were only round the corner from Jo’s - even if Bill probably hadn’t realised. 

Yaz turned in her seat slightly, but didn’t actually look up. “It sounds stupid, but I’ve got an awful feeling like something bad has happened.” 

“Your gut is usually to be trusted, Yaz. What sort of something?”

“Jo’s not text at all since lunch. I tried not to think anything of it, but as we drove nearer her place I just… I don’t know, I can’t explain it,” she sighed.

Bill looked up, “oh it’s just down there isn’t it? You want to pop in before we go back?” 

Despite trying to convince herself it was probably nothing, Yaz was failing to stop the growing tightness in her chest. “We’ll be late back Bill, you don’t have to do that."

“I do if it’ll make you feel better. Come on,” she restarted the car and drove the short distance. 

By the time they arrived, Yaz was just about bursting to make sure Jo was okay. She jumped out of the car as soon as she could, almost mirroring their actions from the previous week. Bill quickly followed and raced up the stairs with her, both of them seeing the kicked in door at the same time. Yaz almost fell back down the stairs in shock, but Bill put a hand on her back and gave her a look - they had to approach this professionally. Bill went in first, taking it slow. There were various items all over the place and every door was open. 

She tried, really she did, but her personal concern took over, and Yaz started darting through to look for Jo. Bill tried to stop her, but it wasn’t enough. Everywhere was empty, every room, and she was just about to leave the art room when she had a thought and stopped, taking a few steps over to the cupboard. “Jo? It’s Yaz. Just me and Bill here, the rest of the flat is empty.” For all she knew, she was talking to nothing, but she kept going. “Whatever happened, it’s over now. We’re here. I’m here.” 

A moment of silence, and then the door slowly pushed open. When her eyes met her girlfriend’s, she leaped into her arms. Yaz saw the black eye emerging on her face, and the way Jo winced in pain as she moved, but for the moment she just held her to calm her. Bill appeared in the doorway and Yaz gestured for her to phone for backup and an ambulance. She could feel Jo sobbing against her, shaking uncontrollably in her arms. She kept trying to reassure her, but it was proving difficult. 

It didn't take long for backup to arrive, Yaz could hear them. So could Jo, she jumped at the sound of new voices. "Shh they're my colleagues, they're here to help Jo."

"I don't want to talk about it," she spoke quietly. 

"Don’t worry, you don't have to right now. They're just here to collect evidence okay?" Yaz reassured her. 

That thought settled in, before Jo sat up suddenly. "They never came in here, I just hid in here, so they don't need to search here right? I don't want everything messed up in here too," she panicked. As she moved Yaz noticed Jo was keeping her arm still and made a mental note to get that looked at asap. 

“No babe, I’ll tell them to stay out of here, can they go everywhere else?” she asked. Jo nodded. “Alright sweetheart. Why don’t I go and talk to them, will you be okay for two minutes?” There was another nod. “I won’t let anyone in, I promise,” she reassured her and left the room slowly, pulling the door closed. 

Bill spotted her, jogging over. “Hey, how is she? You shouldn’t have run in there!” 

“I know, I know I’m sorry. She’s… she’s so scared,” Yaz sighed. “Who’s running things?” 

Her partner looked over to where Holly, the detective who had visited previously, was standing talking to officers. “I asked for her personally. She left the rude git behind.” 

“Thank you so much,” Yaz replied. “Can you just guard the door? Make sure nobody goes in there.” Bill agreed and Yaz made her way over to Holly. 

The detective turned to her, “Hello again. How is Jo doing?”

“Not great, she has some injuries, but I’ve yet to establish how she got them. She’s definitely not ready to talk just yet,” Yaz explained. “One thing she did say is that they never went in her art room - she hid in there, so if you could leave that in one piece it might help.” Holly immediately called one of the team over, passing that message on. “Thanks,” Yaz smiled gratefully. 

“No problem, whatever we can do to help. I’ve just had word that the paramedics are almost here too. We will need to get evidence from Jo, in her own time.” 

Yaz sighed, “I know. I’ll talk to her about it.” 

Holly put a hand on her shoulder, “ask for help if you need it Yasmin. I’ll hold the paramedics back until you give the go ahead.” 

She returned to the art room. Jo was sitting with her legs crossed on the floor. She was no longer crying or shaking, she was just still, staring at her hands in her lap. "They're not going to come in here, I promise. Holly is leading the investigation - you know from before?" Jo didn't respond. Yaz moved a little closer and knelt in front of her. "Did they hurt you?" 

Jo shook her head, “I fell over when I ran in here. Tripped over the paint pot and hit the cabinet. They didn’t come near me.” She was mumbling. “I don’t think they even saw me.” 

“Alright, good,” Yaz replied. “There are paramedics on their way, can they come and check you over?” 

There was a short pause, then Jo looked up at her. “Will you stay?” 

“I’m going nowhere.” 

* * *

Yaz had text Ryan in the ambulance, and he arrived with Grace and Graham while Jo was having a scan and Yaz was pacing the relatives room. “Yaz? Mate you’re gonna wear a hole in the floor.” She stopped, looking up at the three people who had walked in. “How is she?” 

“Sleeping. They had to sedate her when we got here, she was so upset…” she had to catch herself at the end of the sentence. “I don’t understand what’s going on here. First River, now her, it makes no sense. I need to sort it out, make her feel safe again.” 

Grace placed a hand on Yaz’s shoulder to stop her. “Sweetheart, there are people doing that job right now. You just need to be there for Jo - as her girlfriend, not a police officer.” 

"I hate it Grace. I catch glimpses sometimes of Jo as herself, but every time I feel like we're getting somewhere it all gets taken away again," she gave up pacing and sat down on the sofa. 

It was Ryan that joined her. "You know, meeting you is the best thing to happen to Jo in months. We've known her a long time now, and you're the only person who could bring her back." He looked at his grandparents for support.

"Kid's right Yaz," Graham cut in. "Jo talks about you all the time with the biggest grin on her face."

Yaz sat in silence for a moment, taking in what they said. "Do you believe we can get through this?"

"If anyone can, it's you two." Grace replied, but the two men nodded in agreement. 

"She's gonna fight it again. Tell me she doesn't deserve me and this isn't fair on me," Yaz was speaking her thoughts, "but I don't care, I want to help her. If that means supporting her through all this before we focus on our relationship then that's what I want."

Ryan put a supportive hand on her shoulder, "Jo knows that." 

Yaz nodded, putting her head in her hands. This was all so unfair.

* * *

Bill phoned her later that day. There was CCTV of the people that broke in to Jo's flat, and they looked surprisingly similar to those who had broken into River's place, based on evidence they now had. 

This fact was running around Yaz's head now as she sat by Jo's bed. Something in the whole situation didn't sit right with her. "You're thinkin' too loud." 

Yaz jumped slightly at Jo's voice, immediately sitting up to look at her. "Sorry?"

"Your thoughts - really loud. You okay?" Jo asked.

Yaz was still a little confused, but maybe it was the drugs. "Isn't that my line?" 

"Oh I'm okay, lots of drugs in me, see!" Jo lifted up her hand which had the cannula in and her IV line attached. "You're very pretty." 

"Too many drugs, clearly," Yaz scoffed. She'd been in this uniform for almost 19 hours now and awake for 20 - pretty was definitely not the first word she would use to describe herself. "You really okay?"

Jo lay her head back again, staring at the ceiling. "Dunno. M'okay with you here. Don't really wanna be alone though, not here."

"I'm not going anywhere, promise. You're safe here too, nobody will be able to hurt you," Yaz took her hand carefully so as not to scare her. 

"S'okay, I'm not scared. Totally brave me," she looked at Yaz again and smiled briefly before her expression dropped again. "They knew stuff about me Yaz. This wasn't random, they knew who I am, called me by name. I was trying to find my phone, that's when I fell. Then I couldn't move properly so I knew I couldn't defend myself. That's why I hid, that's why I got scared," she explained. "They never came in though, never opened the door. Just kept going through the flat like they were looking for something... I didn't know what to do." 

That was the impression Yaz had got when they were there. It was a hunt for something. "You did good babe," she squeezed her hand. "We're gonna find out what happened, we're going to get you better and then I'm treating you to the best third date you've ever had." 

"What if I've never had a proper third date before?" Jo pondered. 

"Then my life did just get a little easier," Yaz replied, deciding not to question the information. "One thing at a time though."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with the characterisation in this chapter. It was HARD. To be honest I'm still not totally happy with it, but I had to settle for something else you'd never have got an update.
> 
> Let me know what you think, the comments keep me going honestly! You're all stars xx
> 
> Oh and hmu on twitter too (@pinkwaldd). Finally linked it so y'all know who I am x


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels a little short, but I wanted to end it at this point. Anyway, hope you all enjoy :).

When Jo was discharged, they got her settled into the spare room at Grace and Graham's. Despite her left arm being out of use, she insisted on having plenty of art stuff around her so they organised a corner for her to paint in too. Yaz had helped move her things over, but she was back at work now. 

She had been so focussed on her painting that she hadn't even noticed Ryan come into the room. "Jo that's amazing," he commented. "I mean your work is always great, but I love this piece."

"Good enough to display y'reckon?" Jo asked casually, but Ryan was a little taken aback by the statement. "Oi, you paying attention?" 

"Yeah, yes. Sorry, a little surprised is all. Definitely!" 

Jo nodded, "excellent. This is the third one, I've got a theme. Already rang Donna, she shouted at me a lot. Not sure if it was good shouting or bad shouting. Anyway - got a deadline now! Must keep going," she turned back. 

Raising his eyebrows, Ryan left and returned to the kitchen where Grace was making lunch. “Gran, do you think Jo is okay?” 

“She was up bright and early this morning, seemed quite motivated,” she replied. 

Ryan glanced back behind him, “she’s putting a new collection together. Been on the phone to Donna n everything.” 

“That’s good isn’t it?” Grace asked.

“Doesn’t it all seem a bit sudden to you?” 

Grace wiped her hands off and went to stand by Ryan, “maybe it is, but maybe it’s her way of coping. We just need to support her as best we can.” 

“Yaz still doesn’t know yet either,” he pointed out. 

“Well it’s up to Jo when she wants to tell her,” Grace told him. “Now get chopping those tomatoes.” 

* * *

Jo had shut the door to the room she was painting in before Yaz came round, and everyone else took that as a sign not to bring it up. They were all in the lounge after dinner, Ryan was talking about his apprenticeship while they were all sitting with their mugs of tea. Jo and Yaz were sitting on the smaller sofa together and Yaz, giving into post shift tiredness, had her head resting on Jo’s shoulder. Jo’s broken arm was currently laid on a cushion beside her which Yaz had insisted on after learning she’d not been resting it today. The two of them had a blanket too that Grace had insisted on putting over them.

As Yaz lay quietly, Jo was enthusiastically asking Ryan questions about mechanics - something she seemed to know a lot about herself. “I’m thinking about getting an old car to tinker with and do up, would be good to have someone on hand,” Ryan mentioned. 

“Ah yeah! That’d be ace!” Jo replied excitedly. “Been ages since I’ve played about with an engine.” 

Yaz’s mind drifted to thinking of Jo in a boiler suit with oil up her arms and smiled slightly.The whole scene was interrupted by a knock at the door, which Grace went to answer. Yaz didn’t move, she was far too comfortable. She did notice Jo tense though and moved her hand to join with her good one what was currently resting on Yaz's arm. "Jo, it's Donna," came the call from the hall. 

"Shit," Jo jumped, causing Yaz to sit up suddenly. She leaped up from the sofa, putting too much weight on her arm which broke a wince too. Once she was stable, Jo disappeared into the hall and shut the door behind her. 

“Is everything okay?” Yaz asked Ryan, who seemed to be looking a little stunned himself. “Ry?” 

He came back to reality and looked over at Yaz. “Oh, yeah, just haven’t seen Donna around for a while s’all. Good sign I guess, Jo getting back in contact with people,” he shrugged. 

"You're a shit liar Ryan Sinclair. What's going on?" Yaz asked.

Graham stepped in quickly, "she's just reaching out a bit love."

Something still didn't feel right. "What is it you're not telling me? Is Jo okay? She's been funny all evening." 

The two men looked at each other, neither really knowing what to say. Yaz sighed, not waiting for an answer anymore - she was concerned enough already. She stood up, shaking off the blanket and heading for the hall. "Yaz, just wait!" 

She ignored him. 

* * *

The moment Jo got into the hall Donna was starting. “Excuse me, you disappear for months and now suddenly you’ve got a new collection? Care to explain?” 

“I thought I already had,” Jo tutted. Her relationship with Donna was a slightly odd one, but they worked well together.

Donna rolled her eyes, “you know that’s not what I’m talking about Jo. I’ve spent all this time keeping the media attention as positive as possible and that has  _ not  _ been easy. You’ve given me nothing to go on. I’ve had literally no communication from you Jo.” 

“If it helps, we didn’t have anything for six months either,” Grace got involved. “She’s been through a lot Donna.” 

“In Donna’s defence, she has actually sent me some very supportive messages. I just… didn’t reply,” Jo shrugged. “Look, now really isn’t the best time. I did say I’d call you when it was ready.” 

“Yeah, why exactly am I not being invited in?” Donna questioned. "It's pretty cold out here."

Jo glanced back into the house before looking back at Donna. "There have been some… life developments."

As if on cue, the hall door opened. "Jo are you alright?" Yaz asked as soon as she entered.

Donna's interest immediately peaked. "Life developments huh? No wonder you've been ignoring my messages. She's cute." 

"What? Donna I-" Jo didn't know what to say. She looked up at Grace, panicking.

G race gave her a reassuring look, "why don't we make a fresh pot of tea, get Donna in from the cold, and have a bit of a catch up? Jo could you give me a hand in the kitchen?" 

Before anyone could argue, Grace let Donna in and led Jo through to the kitchen. "Calm down love, it's fine. Donna won't say anything you know that." 

"But Yaz will ask questions and I don't want to lie to her, but I didn't want to tell her like this Grace." Jo was facing away from her, both hands on the kitchen side and staring down between them, holding back tears. "I didn't know she was coming, this is all so quick."

Grace walked over and stood beside her, having put the kettle on. "Jo, Yaz cares about you. A lot. I don't believe for one minute she will be anything other than kind and understanding. It'll be a shock, but that's all. You trust her don't you?"

"She gave me my life back, course I do," Jo replied and then turned her head to look at Grace. "I need to tell her. Properly, on my own," she stood up. "Uh- do you still need help with the tea?"

"No love, that was my way of getting you in here. Go on, talk to her. I'll keep Donna out of your way," Grace told her.

Jo nodded and took a deep breath before going back into the lounge. 

As soon as she walked in, Yaz rushed over. "Are you okay?" How did she always know something was up? 

"Yeah, I just need to talk to you - in private," she added when Donna glanced up. 

Unfortunately, her agent was still going to speak. "Jo do you really think this is wise? She might be pretty, but you haven't known her long." 

"Donna just- just please shut up. I'm doing what's right for Yaz - and for me. I'll talk to you later," she shook her head and then turned her attention back to her girlfriend. "Come with me," she took her hand and led her through to the dining room where she had been painting. 

Yaz followed and as soon as she walked in, her eyes were drawn to the various paintings around the room. "Wow you've been busy. These are incredible," she started walking around the edge of the room, but Jo didn't want her to notice before she'd told her so went and stopped her. 

Jo took both of her hands now, mostly for personal comfort. "Before I say anything, I need to know that what I'm about to tell you never leaves this house. Or, wherever I move into… I mean, it's between us - and Grace, Graham and Ryan - they know too." 

"Jo you can trust me, I'm not that kind of person I promise you," Yaz replied. "You are kinda freaking me out now though," she added.

"It's not bad. I think. It's just huge, like… universe huge," she told her and then took a deep breath before carrying on. "I've not been totally honest with you about my career. Donna - she's my agent. Might seem like a pain in the ass, but she's great. Made this all work somehow, I dunno how she does it I just know she does."

Yaz listened, not interrupting her. She could tell Jo's brain was going a hundred miles a minute right now. 

"I nearly told you this before, when we were on our first date. That was the whole plan, was gonna take you in and show you the paintings and tell you, but I freaked out. It was probably too early anyway, but that's not the point. Over the last few days I've had more inspiration to paint than I have done in months, I came up with the idea for a new collection and I had to get it out,” Jo found herself rambling a little, not sure quite how to get to the point. 

Taking all this information in, Yaz was beginning to put the pieces together. She almost spoke her conclusion before she thought it. “You’re… you’re the Doctor.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SECRET IS OUT :O
> 
> Thank you for all your kind comments, you're all wonderful people.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo friends! Welcome back, have a chapter full of all the cuteness!! A little bit of relationship progression and some fun.

Both women stood in silence at the revelation for what felt like half an hour, but was probably only a couple of minutes. Yaz broke their hands to turn and look at the paintings again, fingers not quite touching but hovering over the signature in the corner. "I always thought The Doctor was male… god that's sexist isn't it?"

Jo shrugged, "s'not your fault. The media assumed and Donna and I agreed to run with it. Never saying I was male, but never saying I wasn't either." 

"Your art is incredible Jo, I've been seeing it for years and it's amazing. Why don't you want people to know who you are?" Yaz didn't look up from the painting. Jo wasn't really sure what to make of that.

"Fame just isn't my thing. I hate the attention and all the press crap. I'd much rather be able to live my own life," she explained. "It was an accident to be honest. I was never trying to make a career out of this, but there was an amateur show and Ryan made me enter. Donna was scouting there and spotted it, but I told her I didn't want to take it any further. She kept pushing - she does that - and persuaded me to put out a collection in a gallery under a pseudonym to try it. The rest is history I guess."

Yaz took another look around the room. "Sorry, I just don't really know how to react to this," she spoke honestly. 

"It's kinda a big thing. I've not really told anyone before either… Grace, Graham and Ryan always knew and I was with River the whole time," Jo told her. "It's a big secret to take on, I'm sorry maybe I should've thought about that first."

Shaking her head, Yaz finally turned back to look at Jo. "This is something that means a lot to you. I want you in my life, and that means all of you - not just one side. I've adored your work for so long, in a weird way this is like meeting a celebrity."

"Yeah well, I don't do autographs," Jo replied, making Yaz chuckle a little. "So we're okay?"

"We're more than okay," Yaz slipped her arms around Jo's waist. "Thank you for letting me in like that."

Jo let her head drop to meet Yaz's. "You're amazing Yasmin Khan, I promise we will talk more soon and you can ask me loads of questions, but I do need to talk things through with Donna." 

"Say no more, I need to get home anyway. You gonna be okay?" Yaz asked.

"Definitely," Jo replied and pulled her in for a proper hug. 

Soon after that, Yaz left. She only had one shift left until her days off, so they agreed to meet up then to discuss this properly. Jo watched her leave before returning to the lounge, quite frankly drained by this point. "Please don't shout at me again Donna, I haven't got the energy," she slumped back down on the sofa. "Yaz knows now, and she won't tell anyone. That's all you need to worry about." 

Donna, who had been tamed a little by Grace while Jo had been gone, sat up a little. "So I gather, but enough about the pretty girl, we need to talk art. What have you got?” 

“Three and a half so far, but I’ve sketched nine more. It’s like one big picture, but in separate pieces. I kinda see them in a small room but spread around, so when you look around your brain pieces it together,” she explained.

"Small gallery - got it. Anything else?" Donna asked, taking notes.

Jo got distracted when her phone vibrated, she pulled it out and smiled at Yaz's name. It was a photo of her holding one of the postcard prints from quite an early show of hers. 

_ Guess this has a whole new meaning now huh? Xx _

Donna knocked on the table next to her. "Earth to Jo, are you gonna be this much of a pain now?" 

"Probably yep," Jo replied and quickly replied.

_ I'll sign it for you ;). Now get some sleep PC Khan. Goodnight xx _

Once her phone was returned to her pocket, she turned her attention back to the matter in hand. "It should be ready in a couple of weeks. Oh! Yeah and there had better be a good food selection at the opening." 

Donna rolled her eyes, "your obsession with custard creams needs sorting out." 

"Not wrong there love, I've bought 3 packets this week alone," Graham chipped in. 

"I'm not backing down on that," she tutted. "It's written in my contract."

All 3 of the other people in the room looked at Donna, "sadly, she's not wrong." Nobody was particularly surprised. "So if I aim for the first week in December then? We can make it a comeback show. Maybe book a separate room to display some of the pieces in storage." 

Jo bit her lip, did she really want a huge thing? Did it matter when nobody knew who she was anyway? "Sure. I'll get it all ready," she replied. "Make sure I get an extra ticket this time too." 

"Ah yes, pretty girl," Donna made a note on her pad.

"She does have a name Donna," Jo tutted.

The other woman nodded, "I know." She then shut the pad and stood up. "Well now I've got that out of you I'm off. Good to see you all. Don't you dare go quiet on me again Jo Smith." 

"Making no promises," she called back. 

Donna slipped her shoes on, "you're the biggest pain in the butt I've ever worked with, I hope you know that."

As Grace opened the front door for her, Jo got the last word in. "I make you the most money though!" 

* * *

When Yaz showed up 2 days later, Jo was in the depths of another painting. Grace had let her in and told her where Jo was, so she made her way into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb Jo. 

It actually took the artist a few minutes to realise she had arrived, which gave Yaz a chance to watch her work. She watched as Jo carefully assessed her piece and applied strokes delicately, but at a surprising speed. Her tongue just slightly poked out the corner of her mouth while she was concentrating. She looked adorable.

Eventually Jo noticed the presence of someone else in the room and looked behind her. "Oh hey Yaz! Sorry, nearly done on this bit," she told her. 

"It's fine, I quite like watching you work," she hopped up to sit on the table at the other end of the room. "How's it going?" 

"Good! Donna's got the gallery booked and I've got five done now. It's so nice to be back," she grinned. "I've gotta go to my storage place and choose some older pieces to go up later. You want to come? I'm awful at decision making." 

Yaz felt her jaw drop, "seriously? You want me to go with you?"

Putting her brush down and wiping her hands on a nearby rag, Jo walked over to Yaz. "I want you to choose the pieces. Partly so I don't have to, but mostly because I think you'll be ace at it."

"Jo I know literally nothing about art," Yaz replied, still quite confused about why she is asking her.

"Neither do most of the people who go to see my work. I paint for people to see something beautiful, not for educational purposes," she told her and reached to take her hands and making eye contact. "Dunno why I'm bothering when I've got something beautiful right in front of me," she muttered, leaning in and kissing her softly. 

Yaz got lost in the feeling, letting go of Jo's hands and draping her arms over her shoulders to move her a little closer. Eventually they had to break apart for air. "You're very smooth talking," Yaz chuckled softly and gave her another quick peck. "Thought you had a painting to finish." 

Jo shrugged and leaned in for another kiss before replying. "Gotta take breaks, rest the eyes ya know," she stated between touches. "Could do this all day though."

"Mhm and what would Donna say?" Yaz replied.

Immediately Jo pulled back, "ergh way to kill the mood Yaz." She scrunched her face up while Yaz chuckled at her. “Alright fine, I’ll finish it. S’long as we can get back to that after.” 

Yaz rolled her eyes, “go on. I’ll go and make tea.” She jumped off the table and made her way back out.

“Bring the biscuit tin!” Jo called as she left.

Shutting the door behind her, Yaz made her way to the kitchen where she found Grace. “Oh hello love, Jo still busy?” 

“She is now. I had to make a deal with her,” Yaz felt herself blush a little, putting the kettle on to distract herself. 

Grace smiled, “she’s easily distracted is our Jo. Luckily Donna is good at getting her to stick to a deadline.” She grabbed a couple of mugs for Yaz. “So how are things going with you two?” 

“Good, I guess? It’s a little hard to tell given everything that’s happened,” she told Grace while pouring the water on the tea bags. “I really like her Grace,” she turned and leant against the counter while the tea brewed, biting her lip a little. 

“That much is obvious,” Grace smiled. “You know, we talk about the difference you’re making to Jo, but it’s good to see you so happy too Yaz,” she grabbed the milk out of the fridge for her. “I’ve gotta go back to the café now, Graham will be going spare. See you later love.” 

Yaz smiled, “thank you so much Grace, honestly. Have a good afternoon,” she finished making the tea while Grace made her way out. She found herself staring out of the window when she finished, thinking about what Grace had said. With everything going on, she hadn’t really thought about it, but the older woman was right. Jo made her so incredibly happy. Yaz wanted to be around her all the time, just be close to her and feel her warmth. She wanted to protect her and feel protected by her. Jo was beautiful, her smile was addictive and her personality was so unique and wonderful. 

Turns out, Jo was also right behind her. “What you looking at?” The noise made her jump slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. Didn’t actually take too long to finish that bit, and then you seemed to be a while with the tea.” 

“Was just chatting to Grace,” Yaz replied, handing Jo her tea. 

Jo looked around the room, “uh-” 

“Not just then you donkey, she left a few minutes ago. Was just thinking about what she said,” Yaz shrugged. 

“You alright?” Jo asked with genuine concern.

Immediately Yaz nodded, “that’s what I was thinking about. I really, truly am. Meeting you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she smiled, blushing a little. 

“Says the woman who ended my six month hibernation,” Jo pointed out, moving to lean against the counter too so she could put an arm around her. “You saved my life Yasmin Khan.” 

Yaz looked down into her tea, “I think you saved mine too. I didn’t realise how stuck I was in my job and my life. You’ve made me happy, properly happy.” 

“Then why are you crying?” Jo asked, noticing her eyes tearing up. 

“Happy tears Jo,” she put the mug of tea down so she could hug her properly. 

* * *

After drinking their tea, and a slightly lengthy make out session on the sofa, they finally made it out to the storage facility. When Jo opened the door, Yaz felt her jaw drop. The room was full of art - all covered for protection - but there was so much of it. “I can’t believe how much is here.” 

“Some of it has never been shown, pieces that didn’t really work, but I’m rubbish at throwing things out. Most of it is just not on display at the moment,” Jo explained. “All the sections have a poster with a photo of each piece so we know what’s in it.” 

Yaz raised an eyebrow, “that’s very organised.” 

“Donna’s idea,” Jo replied. “So I guess… just have a look around?”

Still slightly stunned by the whole idea, Yaz made her way in properly and started to look over all the posters. She remembered seeing some of these pieces before - either on the TV or in person. It was still quite a lot to take in that her girlfriend was secretly the most famous artist in the country. 

“Are you okay? Is this too much?” Jo asked a little nervously while Yaz was making her way around.

Yaz looked back at her, “no, no it’s not too much - it’s just a lot. I’m literally stood in a room with the most beautiful art, goodness knows how much it’s all worth-” 

“Approximately 13 million,” Jo answered without really thinking. Yaz had to physically stop her jaw dropping once more. “Oh… sorry, I um- I mean I don’t really think about the money much, it’s just- well-” 

“Jo, relax, I’d already worked out you’re worth a fortune. That’s just… wow,” she ran a hand through her hair before going over to join Jo again for a moment, “the money changes nothing for me. Remember I fell for you when all I knew was that you seemed lost and alone. I care about Jo, I really like Jo. The Doctor is just a third wheel in this relationship.” 

Jo smiled, “I like that idea,” she kissed her. “I’ll talk you through some of these if you like?” 

“Like a private tour? Now that I can get on board with,” Yaz smiled and stuck her arm around Jo’s waist.

It took about 2 hours for them to pick out pieces in the end, coming up with a sort of theme. Yaz was in charge of writing down the names and numbers while Jo waltzed around the room when her brain got fired up. Yaz decided she loved seeing Jo bubbly and excited, even if it was a little hard to keep track. “I could watch you working for hours,” Yaz smiled when they shut the doors and locked up. “It’s kind of addictive.” 

“You’re a great work partner,” Jo smiled in reply. “We make a good team.” 

“I have no idea what I’m on about,” Yaz chuckled. “That was fun though.” 

Jo took her hand without even thinking about it as they walked out. “Dinner as a thank you?” 

“Sounds perfect.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I hope you enjoyed lovelies! Don't worry, the drama isn't over yet... see you soon for the next one! Do leave a little comment, I love them!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning/afternoon/evening/night! Another chapter for you lovelies. Hope you're ready for this one...

Things were going well. Yaz’s days off had been perfect, they’d been together every day. Yaz had spent a lot of time watching Jo paint and decided she loved it, even if Jo had made it clear she wasn’t allowed to see all the pieces together for now. 

Unfortunately, days off didn’t last forever and Yaz was on nights. She had her afternoon nap at Grace’s while Jo was working, and they’d fed her dinner before she went to work. It felt nice, Jo seeing her off to work, and the whole drive Yaz had spent thinking about their goodbye kiss. She walked into work smiling, and Bill was quick to catch on. “Well hello there Yasmin, good rest days?” she winked. 

Yaz rolled her eyes, “none of your business.” 

“That means yes then,” Bill smirked.

“Not like you’re thinking, dirty sod,” Yaz laughed. "We on patrol today?"

"You betcha. And in your favourite area too. Reckon we can get coffee discounts now you're hooking up with the waitress?" Bill asked. 

Yaz shut her locker and briefly considered throwing something at Bill before settling for "Jo isn't working today, actually." 

"Damn," Bill sighed. "Ah well, off we go."

It was a fairly mundane shift really. They chatted, Bill kept asking for more information about Jo, but Yaz was keeping tight lipped on their relationship for now. Bill did quite happily talk about this new girl she'd met at a club, which kept her distracted for a while. Of course they were frequently interrupted by various petty crimes and call outs. It wasn't a shift that felt particularly rewarding on that front. That was, until Bill's phone rang. 

She answered it, and then stepped out of the car. Yaz thought that was odd, but given Bill was technically senior to her it wouldn't be impossible for her to be told something Yaz was not yet privileged enough to know. Something about the situation, however, made her uneasy. 

When Bill returned to the car, it seemed her feelings were correct. Her friend's usual smile had dropped and she started the car in silence. "Yaz, I don't know what is going on, but they've asked me to take you back to station. Apparently one of the suspects on River's case has talked and… he mentioned your name." 

"What?! How does he even know my name?" Yaz immediately panicked. What was going on here? She pulled out her phone.

"I have no idea Yaz. They won't tell me anymore than that. I know you have nothing to do with this, I'm going to do my damn hardest to find out what's going on and sort it. I… also shouldn't be letting you use your phone, but you should let Jo know." Bill told her. 

Yaz was grateful it was Bill who was there at least, but she was still shaking typing the message.

_Something is going on at work. One of the suspects in River's case has mentioned my name. I swear I have no idea why. Please don't panic, I'll get this sorted xx_

She sat back in her seat, shooting one last text off, while Bill drove. 

"Text me Jo's address. I'll go and talk to her after work. She's staying with your other friends right?" Bill asked.

Yaz nodded and unlocked her phone again, sending the address to Bill. "She's staying with Grace, Graham and Ryan. They've known Jo for years, guess they knew River too." 

"Well they're going to get to know me pretty quick too. I know we've not been friends long Yaz, but I've always had a sense for good people," Bill finished as they pulled up. "Stay strong okay? I need my partner back asap."

Thankfully they’d agreed to let her at least go in the back door, so Bill escorted her round and through the process until she had to leave once Yaz was in the interview room. Without Bill in the room, she immediately felt a lot more alone. When she saw Detective Rogers walk in, her heart sank. Thankfully Holly followed him in, which made her feel a little better. She gave Yaz an almost apologetic look as they sat down. 

After the initial formalities and starting the recording, he got going. “So Yasmin, you were one of the first on scene and according to your statement, you found Ms. Song in the bedroom. Is that correct?” 

“Yes sir,” she replied, clutching her hands together under the table. They’d offered her a lawyer, she’d turned it down - having nothing to hide. Was that a stupid mistake? Probably. 

“You stated that you didn’t know Ms. Song before you met her that day,” he made the statement, but looked to Yaz for a response.

“That’s correct, I wasn’t aware of her history at the time I met her,” Yaz replied honestly, trying to keep her voice steady even if the rest of her wasn't. 

Detective Rogers sat forward, placing a file on the table. "See I'm not convinced that's true," he crossed his arms. "I understand you are close with Ms. Song's ex wife." 

Shit.

"At the time of the attack, Jo- Ms. Smith and I had recently become friends, yes. We had spoken about her previous relationship, but I hadn't seen any pictures so wouldn't have been able to identify her on the day." Yaz glanced over at Holly who was taking notes, but also gave her a reassuring nod.

"Here's the problem I have Yasmin. One of the suspects in the assault and break in has told us that you were involved in the attack," he sat back and glared at her.

Yaz shook her head, "that's not even possible! You know I was on shift all day." 

"I said involved Yasmin, I didn't say you were there," he tutted. "See the explanation we've had put to us, by two of the group now, is that this was your coordination." 

"Wh- why would I even do that?! I already told you I knew nothing about her before hand. Jo didn't even know she was back herself. This is ridiculous," she didn't know if she was angry or scared, but she did know her nails were leaving marks on her palms. "I had nothing to do with this." 

He stared her out for a couple more moments before responding. "So you won't mind if we take a look at your phone and laptop then?" 

"I have nothing to hide," she replied confidently..

"Not even this?" he moved now to open the folder on the table, showing photos of her and Jo. One from their trip to the zoo, and one from the park just last week. Both of which showed them kissing. "I'd say that puts a different spin on things, wouldn't you?"

Yaz looked at them, then back at him. "These were both after the attack. This changes nothing. W- where did you even get these anyway?!" 

"Anonymous tip off," he replied. "I guess we are going to have to investigate further aren't we Miss Khan. I'll leave you with DI Franzen to organise your cell." 

He ended the interview tape and left the room abruptly, leaving Holly and Yaz alone. "I'm so sorry Yasmin," Holly spoke quietly after a moment of silence. Yaz kept looking at her hands. "I don't believe for a second you had anything to do with this, but the evidence is there…"

"And you have to investigate it. I know how it works, not your fault," Yaz replied shakily. Her confidence had been worn down. She glanced at the clock. "23 hours 29 minutes remaining."

"Something isn't right here Yasmin, I'm going to do my best to work it out," Holly replied. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to take you out now." 

Yaz shrugged, "not your fault. Let's get this over with." 

* * *

Bill had gone straight round to Grace and Graham’s as soon as she’d changed. When the door opened she decided by process of elimination that this must be Ryan. “Sorry this isn’t a great time for… whatever this is,” he said.

“I know. I’m Yaz’s work partner, she gave me your address before… well, you know,” Bill shook her head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it. Can I come in?” 

“Yes, yeah of course. Bill right?” Ryan moved out of the way. 

Bill nodded and made her way into the house. Ryan went ahead of her, letting the others know who she was as they went in. Immediately, Jo ran over to her. "Is she okay? What's happening?"

"I wish I knew, honestly. All they told me is what Yaz told you," Bill sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault love," Grace handed her a tea she'd just poured from the pot. "Here, have a seat." 

Jo was still pacing the room when Bill sat down. "None of it adds up," she spoke. Bill wasn't really sure if she was talking to her or not. "Why would they go for River, then me, then get Yaz involved? It makes no sense." She had a look on her face of deep thought. 

Everyone else in the room had their eyes fixed on Jo. Bill glanced around. Grace looked concerned, Graham looked slightly confused and Ryan seemed to almost be willing her to find an answer. Bill wasn't too sure what to do, so she waited. Then suddenly, without warning, Jo shot out of the room. "Is she okay?" Bill asked. 

Ryan nodded, "she's a little skittish when she's… well, all of the time actually. It's like her brain fires at 100 miles an hour - very hard to keep up. She'll be back in a sec." 

No sooner had he spoken, Jo appeared back in the room. She'd changed her jumper. "It's River. It's all River."

"Why would River get someone to stab her?" Bill questioned. 

Jo turned to look straight at her. "To throw us all off at the start. Wasn't it just a little easy to catch the people that did it? Then you have the break in at mine - to scare me - which worked, frustratingly. They were definitely looking for something but I still don't know what yet. Working on that. But then this… she must know about Yaz somehow," Jo stopped in her tracks. "I'm so stupid! She's been watching me this whole time hasn't she? That's how she knows about Yaz, that's how she knows where I live. She's using Yaz to get to me." 

Bill thought about this. It answered a lot of questions, but it opened up a lot more. "Are you sure about this?"

"In my early days as a med student, I had a patient who narrowly avoided death because he was stabbed in just the right place in the abdomen. River and I talked about it at length when I got home and I'd always talk about details. It was years ago, but…" Jo shook her head. "I need to go." She grabbed her keys from the side and was out of the door before anyone could stop her. 

Ryan leapt up after her, trying to catch up, but returned soon after a little out of breath. "She's gone. Said she needed space," he bent over trying to recover. 

"I'll leave that with you guys," Bill pulled out her card from her bag. "If you need anything, give me a ring. I'm going to see what I can find out." 

"Don't get yourself in trouble love, Yaz wouldn't want that," Grace stood up when Bill did to see her out.

Bill shook her head, "don't worry, I've got friends in the right places. Or Yaz has anyway," she told her. "Ring me if anything changes." 

She left the house and checked her phone.

_This isn't great, tell me you've got something? Holly x_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, okay? I really am! But Yaz has some good buddies and... well, Jo is running into trouble, but what's new? She is meant to be 13 after all. 
> 
> Leave us a lil comment and let me know what you think! Much love and catch you soon xx


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back. This is not a cute chapter by any means, but a couple of familiar faces make a return. Also I had a huge writing binge while waiting for the trailer to drop so that's why you've got this!

If attention's what she wanted, attention was what she would get. Jo immediately made her way to the park she hadn't been to in months, but it was all she could think of. If River was watching, she'd get the message from this. 

After an hour sitting on the bench, Jo wasn't sure she was going to come. But just as she was considering new tactics, someone sat down beside her. "Took your time,” River spoke, neither of them looking at each other.

“What?” Jo asked in disbelief. 

“Well I figured going for your new bit on the side would get you here, but I didn’t expect it to take quite so long,” the older woman replied. 

Jo clenched her fists in her lap. “So it is you then.” 

“Well of course it is sweetie, had to get your attention somehow,” she turned now, but Jo refused to look at her yet. 

“I don’t know why you’re doing this River, but you have to stop it. Yaz is completely innocent in all this,” she spoke with anger. 

“She’s sleeping with my wife, not sure how innocent that makes her.” 

Now Jo looked at her. “You- are you seriously using that? We’re not married anymore River. You’d know that if you’d told me where you were going. Don’t know if you were trying to get rid of the evidence by burning down the house, but I had that with me. Wasn’t difficult to prove to a judge,” Jo was putting all her energy into not screaming every word at her. 

“You don’t mean that,” River replied. “I know you still love me Jo."

"Are you deluded?! I stopped loving you the moment I saw you in bed with that man. You ruined my life, got rid of all the best parts of me. I spent  _ months  _ hiding from everyone I knew because I was ashamed and angry and upset. You took everything River," she could feel her nails digging in her palms, but it was the only thing stopping her from losing it completely. 

Somehow, River was completely unphased. "Well I'm back now," she shrugged. "Let's just give it another try."

"No! There are no second chances here, we are done! Just get your minion to admit he was lying about Yaz and then disappear all over again!" 

"What if I don't want to?" River replied. 

Jo glared at her now. "Then I go to the police and tell them you did all this." 

"With what evidence?" River scoffed. "You've got nothing. Come now sweetie, come home with me and then I'll give him a call," she reached a hand to tuck Jo's hair back. Jo flinched away and stood up. 

"I'm not yours to keep anymore River!" She was shouting now. "Just sort this out!"

River laughed. She actually laughed. Then she stood up and walked over to Jo, and for some reason Jo couldn't move. "Oh, but sweetie if you don't, I can make things a whole lot worse for you. I know your biggest secret, remember… Doctor." 

Internally, Jo immediately panicked. She wouldn’t, would she? If this got out she would lose everything she loved about her career, but if she didn’t do what River wanted, she might lose Yaz - and Yaz might lose her own career. “Do you really think that forcing me to go with you will make for a good relationship?” 

“I guess we’ll find out won’t we? You’ve got 48 hours before I call the papers,” River stood up. “You know where to find me.” 

Then before she knew it, River had disappeared. Jo stood where she was, frozen by the shock of it all. Then she realised there was no time for that, she had 48 hours to sort this out. No time to panic, she needed a plan. 

* * *

Yaz sat in the cell, knees up to her chest. The food was on the floor, but she didn’t have an appetite. Everyone, excluding the obvious, has been so kind to her - they all know Yaz, and they know this made no sense. 

The cell supervisor that night was Georgia, Yaz got on well with her at work normally, so it was kind of reassuring that she was there. Speaking of which, “Yaz, your lawyer just rocked up.” 

“I didn’t ask for-” 

“She told me you’d say that,” Georgia replied, opening the cell door. Yaz looked over, sitting up slightly when she saw Clara stood outside. “Take as long as you need, just give me a knock when you’re ready,” she smiled. Yaz knew she was bending the rules a little here and she was grateful for it so nodded a small thank you. 

As soon as Georgia was gone and the door was closed, Clara dropped her briefcase and pulled Yaz into a huge hug. “Why on earth didn’t you call me?!” 

“I… don’t know,” she replied, eventually letting go of her friend and sitting back down in the corner again. “How did you know I was here? How did you even get here so fast?” Yaz asked as Clara sat down beside her. 

“Your sister rang me. The moment she told me what was going on I flew straight over here,” she explained. Clara had moved to Ireland to live with her boyfriend and had set up her own law firm there. “Timings worked out pretty well to be fair.” 

Yaz nodded, pulling her knees back up again, “this is a mess Clara.” 

“I gathered, but Sonya didn’t seem to know much. Tell me everything I need to know - we’re going to get this sorted.” 

So Yaz did. She explained about Jo, about the day she’d found River, about Jo’s break in and everything in between - except Jo’s secret of course. Clara asked her questions and made notes constantly. “Sounds kinda like you’re being set up here Yaz.” 

“Thanks detective, I’d never have guessed,” Yaz replied sarcastically, before looking up apologetically. “Sorry. It’s all I’ve been thinking about, but they’re not actively looking into that. The detective in charge he’s… well, he’s a dick quite frankly. His partner is on my side, I think, and I get the impression she’s trying to do something but it’s all behind his back,” she sighed. “They’ve got enough to charge me tomorrow Clara. Two matching statements…” 

Clara shook her head, “do not be getting all defeatist on me now Yasmin Khan. I’m going to do everything I can to get you out of this building before the end of play tomorrow. I’ll track down your partner you mentioned, see what she’s got. Just stay strong for me - a few more hours, that’s all.” 

* * *

Bill paced up and down in the underpass. This seemed ridiculous, but no more than anything else happening right now. Eventually she heard the footsteps and turned around to see Holly arriving round the corner. “Sorry, took a while to get out of the office. How are you getting on?” 

“Jo is convinced this has something to do with River, and the more I think about it - well it would make sense,” Bill explained.

Holly nodded, “given all the suspicion around her with the fire. We don’t have any evidence though,” she sighed. “Peter has enough to charge Yaz at the moment.” 

Bill was about to reply when her phone rang. She looked at it, it wasn’t a number she recognised, but something told her to answer it. “Hello?” 

“Is this Bill Potts?” came the voice on the other end.

“It is, who is this?” 

“My name’s Clara Oswald. I’m Yaz’s best mate and now her lawyer. I think we need to talk,” she told her. “I’m just driving near the retail park, where are you?” 

Bill stood up a little straighter. “I’ll send you the address. You’re not far away.” She hung up. “I’d totally forgotten about Clara. She’s Yaz’s best friend, lives in Ireland. Just so happens to be a very good lawyer, and apparently she’s now here.” 

“Guess we’ve got ourselves a little team then,” Holly replied.

“And a lot of work to do.” 

They kept chatting, and about 10 minutes later Clara jogged over to them. Bill recognised her from photos that Yaz had shown previously. “Good to meet you,” Clara told her. “Shame it’s not in better circumstances, but Yaz has mentioned you before and you seem like a good friend.” 

Bill nodded, “we get on well, she’s a great partner. Talks a lot about you n all.”

Clara smiled, “we’ve been best friends since we were kids. I’ve seen Yaz through a lot on my own, but I think this one requires help.” She turned to Holly, “are you DI Franzen?” 

“That would be me, but I think formality is a bit of a side in this context. Holly will do just fine,” she replied. 

“So what’s the plan?” Clara asked.

Bill took that question. “Jo is convinced it’s her ex-wife River, and I’m inclined to agree that’s a good lead to look at. Jo said she once had a patient who was stabbed in the same way as River, and she talked to River quite deeply about it.” 

“Interesting,” Clara commented. “So we just need something to put enough doubt that they can’t keep Yaz in tomorrow. The rest we can work out after.” 

Holly nodded, “we just need a shred of evidence.”

“Yaz said that someone had been following her and Jo? If that was River, or River had someone following them, we might be able to get something from that?” Clara questioned. 

“The question is how,” Bill pointed out.

Clara had an answer to that. “They don’t know me, right? I’ve not been in the picture.” 

“Absolutely not,” Holly interrupted her. “You have no idea how that might play out.” 

“I’m not saying I go and see her, we’re not there yet. What if I can find out who is following her?” Clara suggested. 

Bill and Holly shared a look. “That could work,” Bill said to the detective. “We know where they’re likely to be right now.” 

And so a plan was formed. 

* * *

Jo got back home and all three of the family waiting for her stood up. She walked right past them, going to her room. “I’ll take it,” Ryan followed her, but stood outside the door and knocked. “Jo? S’just me. What’s happened?” 

“Don’t have time to talk Ryan, I’m thinking,” she replied. 

Ryan opened the door slowly, but she didn’t stop him. “Can I help?” 

“No. Not putting you in danger too,” Jo was standing in front of the whiteboard in her room. It was wiped clean of any plans originally written on there and now there were a variety of things that Ryan couldn’t really make out. 

“What are you on about? Jo you can’t handle this on your own again,” Ryan replied. “Tell me what’s going on, where did you go?” 

Jo stopped writing for a moment, putting the lid on the pen and then turning around. “It’s all River. All of it. She faked the break in, she’s got people following me and framing Yaz. The only way she’ll stop is if I go back to her.” 

“You can’t go back to her Jo, that’s not the answer,” Ryan replied.

“If I don’t then Yaz could end up losing everything,” Jo argued back. “I can’t do that to her.” 

Ryan could see the pain in her eyes. “Yaz wouldn’t want you to do that Jo.” 

“How do you know? We can’t exactly ask her can we?!” she virtually screamed. Within seconds, Grace appeared behind Ryan. Jo turned back to the board. “I’ll sort it. I just… I don’t know how yet.” 

Grace guided Ryan out of the room, shutting the door behind them. “Let’s give her a minute.” 

“It’s all River Gran, she faked the break in at hers, organised the one at Jo’s and is framing Yaz. Now she’s telling Jo she’ll only stop if Jo goes back to her. It’s not fair.” 

“Then I guess we have work to do. Starting off with a phone call to Yaz’s friend.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say, the Bill/Clara/Holly team is absolutely ace if I do say so myself. Hope you enjoyed, catch you in the comments!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again! Isolation means plenty of writing time, even if my typing technique is interesting as the doctor in A&E tried to take out my wrists (long story). Anyhoo... let's go.

Clara was beginning to think she should’ve become a private detective. It didn’t take her long at all to work out which car parked outside Jo’s house was waiting for her. Clara parked around the corner, taking a deep breath and hoping her 3 years of drama classes would hold her up. She knocked on the car window and waited a second for it to roll down. “Hi, sorry to disturb you I’m a little lost, a little jet lagged and I forgot my glasses. I’m looking for number 23?” 

The guy looked up at her, a little confused. “It’s down that way, this is 130 here,” he pointed right to the house Jo was staying in. Rookie error on his part. 

“Sorry, would you mind just walking down with me? I’m basically blind without my glasses. Unless you’re busy, I’ve just been walking around the area for an hour now and I’m supposed to be checking on my mate’s Nan,” she obviously managed to pull off the right level of emotion as the man in the car glanced back at the house, then at the clock before finally getting out of the car. "Thank you so much. We think she might have fallen, hence the middle of the night visit. Just this way you say?" Clara asked and they walked off down the road.

As soon as they were out of sight, Bill and Holly came round the corner. Holly made her way straight over to the house, while Bill scoped out the car. 

At this point it was about 2am, so it took a couple of knocks to get someone to answer the door. "Hi, you must be Grace? I'm sorry for the late hour. Bill asked me to come over," Holly paused to gesture behind her to Bill. "I'm working on Yaz's case. I wouldn't normally visit at 2am, but' well, we're running out of time rapidly," she stated. 

"You'd best come in. Is Bill joining you?" Grace asked. 

"She's… looking into other leads," Holly decided not to say much else for now, nodding back at Bill before going inside. "I know this might sound a little out there, but can we talk at the back of the house?" 

Slightly confused, Grace agreed and led her through to the kitchen. "I'll go and wake Jo for you." 

It was around 5 minutes before Jo came in. She'd obviously thrown on some joggers and a tee, but she hadn't brushed her hair. "Do you know something about Yaz?" 

“I was in her interview,” Holly explained. “I’m part of the team investigating, but I don’t believe what I’m seeing. That’s why I got in touch with Bill.” Jo nodded and bit her lip, looking away. “Do you know something? Bill said Grace had called her earlier, but she missed it.” 

“My ex, River, she… I saw her earlier. She admitted to it all - both the break ins and setting up Yaz,” Jo ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve still got no evidence though, and she’ll only drop it if I go back to her.” 

Holly could see Jo getting emotional as she spoke and walked over to the dining table, sitting down. As she hoped, Jo followed. “Well that’s what we’re here to sort out. Are you aware someone has been following you?” 

“I figured as much, it’s the only way River could know about Yaz,” she sighed. “I’ve no idea where all this has come from. I thought she was in America until Yaz told me she’d been stabbed.”

“Did she move to America with someone?” Holly questioned.

Jo nodded, “the bastard she cheated with. Ray… Vickers. Ray Vickers. He was some bigshot businessman in LA. Ran a wine sales company. Tall blonde type.” 

Holly wrote down the name and the details. “Okay, I’ll see what I can dig up. Just need to talk to the right people.” 

“Is Yaz alright?” Jo asked nervously. 

“Honestly? She’s not great, but she held her own in that interview room,” Holly told her. “We’re going to do everything we can to get her out later today.” 

“Can I do anything? I need to help,” she asked. 

Holly shook her head, “just keep yourself safe. Don’t make anymore contact with your ex-wife.” She saw Jo’s head hang and Holly reached over, placing a hand on hers. “We’re going to get this sorted Jo. In the meantime though, I need to sneak out of your back door. Can you show me?” 

It wasn’t exactly ladylike jumping over the back fence onto the road behind, but Holly made it over and Bill and Clara were waiting for her. “How’d you get on?” she asked Bill. 

“Got some photos, looks like something out of a movie there’s photos of Jo and Yaz all over the front seat. His phone has multiple calls to and from a one miss River Song too.” 

Holly raised an eyebrow, “how exactly did you get that information?” 

Bill looked at Clara, who spoke up. “He dropped his phone,” she shrugged. “I just, accidentally forgot to give it back until after my visit to my friend’s Nan.” Holly raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it further. 

“I’ll send you all the information. How was Jo?” Bill asked. 

Holly shook her head, “she’s not great in there. River made contact and told her everything, so it’s definitely her. We just need to prove it. I’ve got a potential lead and I’ve got some friends on the night shift so I’m going to head in. You guys should go and get some rest for a bit, I’ll call you when I’ve got more,” she told them. 

They agreed that Clara would go back to Bill’s as she had nowhere to stay, and Holly made her way back to the station. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Jo couldn’t sleep after Holly left. Grace had come to check up on her, but she told her she was going back to bed. She didn’t, she went to her art room instead and sat on the desk at the back where Yaz had regularly been watching her from. She stared at her current piece that was in progress, at everything she could lose if she let River carry on. If her identity came out it would be her worst nightmare - all the attention, she didn’t want it. It would make her life as it was unlivable. It would affect everyone she knew - Grace, Graham, Ryan and Yaz.

Then she looked down at Yaz’s mug on the desk. It wasn’t really hers, it was Jo’s favourite, but she’d let Yaz use it. Ryan had teased her about it. Yaz, Yaz was in trouble. Why did every outcome here leave Yaz suffering in one way or another? She didn’t deserve any of this. Everything she did was for good, she literally helped people for a living. She's basically given Jo her life back, and now hers could be being taken away.

People were trying to help, Holly and Bill seemed trustworthy, but Jo still felt like she should be doing more. Nevertheless, Holly had told her to stay here - so she would, because that’s what Yaz would tell her to do. 

Meanwhile, Yaz was lying awake in her cell. She closed her eyes, picturing Jo painting in her mind, it was so calming. She settled herself inside this picture in her head, blocking out the noises from the drunk men down the corridor. She kept going back over every minute with Jo, it was the only thing keeping her calm. Every meal they’d shared, when Jo had put whipped cream on Yaz’s nose just so she could kiss it off. She smiled when she thought about how excited Jo had been at all the animals in the zoo. They’d done so much in what was really such a short time, but it felt like she’d known Jo for years now. 

She thought about how Christmas was getting closer, how maybe they would be able to spend it together. It was only 3 weeks before last Christmas that Jo’s life had fallen apart, and Yaz wanted to make this year so much better for her. Yaz imagined that Jo normally loved Christmas, she was such a child at heart. She wanted to see her wake up on Christmas day with that gleam in her eyes and jumping downstairs. 

Of course they hadn’t yet even slept in the same bed, but after this Yaz wasn’t going to let Jo go again. They were a team now, Yaz knew in that moment that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this woman, it felt right. She loved her.

Oh-

That was quite the revelation to have in a cold holding cell. Yaz opened her eyes in surprise, sitting up. She needed to get out of here, but her fate lay in the hands of a detective who seemingly despised her. At least, that’s what she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop she did that. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!! Feel free to leave a little comment, I do enjoy them and I'm very lonely right now.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two uploads in a week? Incredible. (I'm off work ill, writing is all I can manage - you're benefiting!)

Holly worked furiously all night. She knew enough people to get the searches done without alerting DCI Rogers, and was finally getting somewhere, so she called Bill and Clara and they met back in the underpass.

“So? How’d you get on?” Bill asked, rubbing her hands together for warmth. Clara and her hadn’t slept in the end, just stayed up talking about their friendships with Yaz. She’d learned a lot about Yaz at school - something she would be sure to use in the future.

Opening the folder she was holding, Holly pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to them. It had a picture in the top corner of a man. “This is Ray Vickers. He’s the man that River cheated on Jo with and moved to LA with. He owns a business over there, supposedly in wine distribution, but on some digging that’s a little questionable,” she grabbed another piece of paper out. “Now I told you I have some friends in the right places, I actually have a mate who works for LAPD. Turns out our friend Ray isn’t called Ray at all. His real name is Hank Parsons, and he’s got a crime roll as long as my arm - usually to do with gaining money from people.” 

Clara shook her head, “this is a lot deeper than we thought.” 

“I wish that was it too. It seems he and River have been working together,” Holly told her. “They’ve been investigating the two of them.” 

“So this could all be another scheme? I’m a little confused though, Jo doesn’t exactly seem like the type to have a lot of money. She lives in a small flat, she’s unemployed,” Bill pointed out. 

Holly nodded, “agreed, but you know where she lived before. I was always assuming that River had the money, maybe we were wrong, the question was never asked.” 

“Do we need to talk to Jo again?” Clara questioned. 

“Not just now. I’ve got something else which might just clinch it for us today,” Holly replaced the two pieces of paper and pulled out a third. “This is the guy who’s claiming Yaz organised it all, who is already proven to be at River’s house at the time of the attack. Guess who he is?” The two women shrugged. “His name is Jamie Parsons.” 

“Parsons? Like… Hank?” Bill suggested. Surely that was too easy.

Holly smiled, “exactly like Hank. He moved to Manchester from LA about 3 months ago, and he is Hank’s nephew. That link should be more than enough to cast doubt on the whole situation and get Yaz off being charged for now.” 

Both of the other women let out sighs of relief. “Great work Holly, honestly.” 

“Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Fab team work. I’d better get back to the office. I’ll probably see you shortly Clara,” Holly nodded at her. “I haven’t forgotten about your photos either Bill, I’m still working on that.” 

Bill held her hands up, “mate as long as you’re getting Yaz out of there you do whatever you need. Let me know if I can do anything else,” 

They parted ways, knowing this was really still only the beginning of the fight.

* * *

Yaz sat up again when the cell door opened. The clock read 09:37, and she was soon led down the corridor to the interview room. Clara was already sitting there, and stood up to hug her before they both sat down. “You look almost as tired as I am,” Yaz commented.

“Busy night,” Clara shrugged. Yaz raised an eyebrow. “I’ll explain more once we’re out of here.” 

“How can you be so certain?” Yaz asked.

Clara simply tapped her nose, sitting back as DCI Rogers and DI Franzen walked in. Clara introduced herself to both of them, not giving away the fact her and Holly had already met. Both detectives sat on the other side of the desk. DCI Rogers looked really annoyed, Yaz noted. “This won’t take long. Some new information has come to light overnight,” he started. “At the moment we are unable to charge Yasmin, but we will have investigations ongoing.” 

“That saves me a lot of work, thank you. Let’s go Yaz,” Clara stood up. 

“I’ll see them out,” Holly told her partner, following the pair out of the door. Only once they were down the corridor did she speak to them. “I’ll keep you informed as best I can,” she told Clara. 

“Likewise. I’ll get Yaz back to Jo’s place first. Hope you’re ready to hop over a fence mate,” Clara replied and made her way out with Yaz.

* * *

The car journey was quiet. Clara was watching her mirrors carefully, but there was no sign of them being followed. She drove round the back route, parking at the back of Grace and Graham’s place and turning off the engine. “How you feeling?” Clara asked.

Yaz shrugged, “a bit confused, relieved to be out obviously…” 

“I know, there’s a lot to explain. Let’s get inside, I need to talk to you and Jo,” Clara told her. 

“Why exactly are we jumping over the back fence to get in?” Yaz questioned, getting out of the passenger side. “There is a perfectly respectable front door.” 

Clara nodded, “which is being monitored by a slightly creepy man in a vauxhall astra.” 

Yaz swung around to look at her, “the photos… they’re following Jo.” 

“Looks that way. I’ll explain more inside,” she replied.

After a quick hop over the fence, aided by a stool that Graham had hidden for them, followed by a knock on the back door and they were inside. Grace had answered the door, but Jo soon appeared behind her, practically knocking the other woman over to get to Yaz. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she whispered into Yaz’s hair as she held her tight.

Yaz shook her head, “it’s not your fault Jo,” she leaned back slightly, not leaving Jo’s grasp, but looking her in the eyes and gently tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m just so glad to see you.” 

“No, no you don’t understand,” Jo let go. “River’s behind all of this.” 

She took a couple of steps away, but Yaz followed her and took her hand. “Jo that doesn’t make any of this your fault,” she rubbed her thumb over the back of Jo’s hand softly to get her to look back at her. “You are not responsible for her actions. Please Jo, I just need you right now.” 

Seeing the pain in her girlfriend's eyes, Jo relented and pulled her back in for a hug. Yaz touched their foreheads together before kissing her softly. “You were all I thought about in there,” she told her. “It kept me calm.” 

Jo kissed her again, “I’m glad I could be there in some way.” 

“As touching as this moment is, if slightly surreal, can we have that chat now?” Clara interrupted, trying not to look directly at them. Yaz apologised, quickly moving to stand at Jo’s side, although keeping as close to her as she could. 

Grace placed a hand on Yaz’s shoulder. “It’s good to have you back love. Why don’t I put the kettle on while you three take the lounge? Graham’s at the café and Ryan’s at work.” 

“Sounds great, thank you Grace. Let’s go, come on Jo,” Yaz took her hand and they made their way to the lounge. Jo was squeezing her hand pretty tight, not wanting to let go. They sat down on the sofa and Jo put her arm around Yaz now, pulling her close. She didn't mind. "Jo this is my best mate Clara, we've been best friends since we were about 4. She also happens to be a pretty good lawyer and apparently knows a lot more about this than either of us." 

Jo looked back to Clara, "did you get Yaz out?" 

"It was a team effort. Yaz's sister called me. When I saw Yaz she said her partner was looking into it so I contacted Bill. She was already in contact with Holly," Clara explained. Both Jo and Yaz looked a little stunned. "We did a bit of investigative work last night. Holly came and spoke to you Jo, as you know. Bill checked out the guy who has been following you, and I was a fantastic distraction… so really it was all their work," Clara shrugged. 

Yaz tried to process this all, "so you guys were working all night? For us?"

"Yep, not slept yet. Anyway, Holly found out a lot. We think River's trying to scam you," she aimed that statement at Jo. "It seems the man she moved to LA with? He's a known criminal, and the LAPD think he and River are now colluding. They go after rich types and use various tactics to get money out of them. That's the only bit that doesn't really make sense though…" Clara finished.

Jo and Yaz shared a look. They knew what River was after. Yaz retook her hand and squeezed it. "Yaz I saw her. She told me it was all her, she told me she wouldn't stop going after you unless I went back to her. She also said if I didn't… she would tell everyone. She holds all the power here Yaz." 

Yaz shook her head, "we are going to stop this okay? I swear to you." She tucked Jo's hair back again and kissed her forehead before turning back to Clara. "Jo has money, she just doesn't like to brag about it. It was a big inheritance. River knows about that, she knows about a lot of things." 

Clara nodded, “now it makes a bit more sense. They’re doing some investigations now into the two of them, hopefully we will get some answers. In the meantime, ignore any more contact from River. Don’t let her manipulate you. Whatever it is she has on you, I suspect she won’t actually release, because if she does then she loses control.” 

Somehow Jo found she trusted Clara’s word. Maybe it was knowing she was Yaz’s best mate, maybe it was the confident manner with which she spoke, but she trusted her. She also trusted Yaz. Her beautiful girlfriend who was finally back in her arms and Jo never wanted to let go. They would be okay, she had to believe that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH I hope you enjoyed!! It's all going on, River is a jerk, but our fave two are back together. Happy faces everyone!
> 
> Let me know what you think, see you soon!   
> Twitter: pinkwaldd


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evening all :). Back at it with another chapter. Still off work so plenty of writing time, albeit I'm ill and tired so it's a balance. ANYWAY, this is a lovely soft chapter to give y'all a bit of a break. I hope you all enjoy.

Not long after Clara had left, Yaz fell asleep against Jo. The blonde watched as her girlfriend slept peacefully, kissing her hair softly just as Jo came inside. “Did she call her parents?” Grace asked, handing Jo another mug of tea before sitting on the adjacent sofa. 

“Yeah, they’re a bit worried but okay. Yaz persuaded them she would be okay to stay here, we thought it might be best considering,” Jo sipped her tea. “I’m sorry this has all been brought to you.” 

Grace shook her head, “it’s fine sweetheart, we’ll support you through all this.” 

Jo smiled slightly, “you’re a true blessing Grace O’Brien.” 

They sat in silence for a while after that, Jo basically watching Yaz and Grace looking elsewhere to give them a sense of privacy. Nearly an hour passed before Yaz stirred. She sat up with a start before realising where she is. Jo sat next to her, placing a hand on her knee to ground her. “You’re safe Yaz, you’re with me now.” Yaz turned into her and let Jo pull her into a reassuring hug. Jo rubbed her back gently, kissing her temple. “You’re gonna be just fine.” 

Yaz calmed, just resting her head against Jo’s chest to listen to her heart beating for a few minutes, before sitting up. “Thanks, sorry,” she sighed. “Can we do something? I’m so tired of feeling sorry for myself. How’s the art going?” 

“S’alright. Probably a bit behind now though, that won’t impress Donna,” Jo rolled her eyes.

“Maybe you should get some done then,” Yaz suggested. “I like watching you.” 

Jo thought about it for a moment, “I’ve got an idea, come on,” she took Yaz’s hand and helped her up, guiding her through to the art room. She scrunched her nose when she realised how messy she’d left it, but that was a problem for another moment. Jo let go of her hand and carefully moved the current canvas off the stand and replaced it with a fresh one. “Let’s make something together.” 

“Uh- Jo I cannot paint to save my life,” Yaz replied, a little confused by the suggestion. 

“I’m gonna teach you!” Jo grinned. “We’re gonna create something beautiful. What do you want to paint?” 

Still a little stunned by the idea, Yaz realised that Jo was serious about this so she thought about her question. “Let’s do something to represent us,” she answered.

Jo stared at the canvas for a second, then glanced to Yaz. “You know what? That’s perfect. I’ve got it! Let’s grab some colours.” 

So they painted. Jo started, then offered the brush to Yaz, who had no idea what to do. Jo stood behind her, carefully guiding her through it. Sometimes holding her hand, sometimes pointing or explaining what she needed to do. Yaz struggled to concentrate at times, the feeling of Jo’s breath gently blowing on her neck was a distraction. Coupled with Jo gently holding her hand to help her place the brush correctly. She blinked heavily to make herself reconcentrate, but just as she did, Jo moved her left hand to rest on Yaz’s hip as she moved slightly round her right side. 

“Ha your tongue pokes out when you’re concentrating,” Jo chuckled, bringing Yaz back to the present. “It’s cute.” 

“You know you do that too right?” Yaz replied, she’d spent enough time watching Jo paint now to pick up on her little quirks. 

Jo scrunched her face up, “I do? Huh, maybe that’s why the little spot next to my mouth gets sore,” she reached up to touch it. Yaz tried to stop her, but it was too late and the paint on her finger was now on her face. Yaz couldn’t help but laugh. “What?” 

“You’ve got paint on your lip babe,” she chuckled and grabbed some kitchen roll from the side to wipe it off, licking the paper a little.

“Ew that’s gross,” Jo leaned away from her.

Yaz looked at her, a little confused. “We kiss literally all the time.” 

“That’s different,” Jo mumbled grumpily. Yaz rolled her eyes, going for Jo’s lip anyway and just about managing to get the paint before she jumped away. 

“You’re a literal child,” Yaz tutted. “Shall we take a meal break now? I’m starving and I want to get in the kitchen before Grace gets home from the café - it’s definitely my turn to cook.” 

Jo nodded, putting everything out of the way safely before heading to the kitchen with Yaz. “When will it be my turn to cook?” 

“When we can trust you not to burn the kitchen down,” Yaz kissed her cheek quickly before starting to look through the cupboards for what she needed. 

“That was once!” Jo stropped, “I did live by myself you know?” 

Yaz was pulling ingredients out. She decided to go for one of her Gran’s favourites. “Yeah Jo, I saw your kitchen remember. Living off ready meals and takeout doesn’t count.” 

“Oh yeah, forgot that,” she backed down. “Can I help you though?” Jo smiled, and Yaz couldn’t resist that smile. 

With roles reversed, Yaz helped Jo to chop up some of the veg without injuring herself, and showed her how she made the curry sauce. She turned her back for less than a minute, and turned back around to find Jo with a spoon in her mouth. “S’really good,” Jo grinned. Yaz rolled her eyes, not even arguing because she looked so happy about it. “Tell you what when we’re actually living together you can cook this every day,” Jo added. She didn’t even realise what she’d said until Yaz’s eyes widened. “Uh, I mean- if…” 

“Evening ladies,” Ryan walked in on the awkward situation. “Oh, am I interrupting something?” 

Yaz shook her head, “nah all good,” she replied. “How was work?” 

Ryan launched into a story about a car he’d been working on, so Yaz returned to the oven, quickly squeezing Jo’s hand to reassure her they were okay. 

* * *

After dinner, when Graham and Grace had won the argument over who was going to wash up, Yaz and Jo returned to the art room. Yaz walked straight over to the canvas, but Jo stayed by the door so she looked back. “Y’alright? We can carry on tomorrow if you’re tired.” 

Jo shook her head, “I didn’t mean it earlier. I mean, maybe like- well it’s still early days isn’t it.” 

Yaz smiled, “I know what you meant Jo, it’s fine. I’d like to think we’ll be there some day,” she walked over and linked their fingers. “I’ve certainly got no intention of letting you go.” 

Hearing that made Jo smile, “I hope not, I really like you Yaz.” 

“That’s lucky, otherwise tonight would be super awkward,” Yaz replied.

“Yes! Sleepover! Ah s’gonna be awesome Yaz, we can have snacks and watch films,” Jo grinned, making Yaz chuckle. Then Jo’s face dropped into a thoughtful expression, “you make me so happy. I know there’s a lot going on still out there, but in here it’s just you and me. Well, and Grace, Graham and Ryan, but y’know.” 

“Yeah I know,” Yaz kissed her softly. “I like it, just you an’ me.”

“Excellent! Let’s paint then!” Jo practically pulled her back across the room. 

They returned to their earlier positioning, with Jo and Yaz working seamlessly together to create the piece of art. It was only as they were putting in the final details that Yaz realised exactly what they’d created. “Jo…” 

“Yes Yaz?” she turned around to look at her. Yaz had taken a step back to let Jo finish up. “Your mouth is open quite wide.” 

Yaz couldn’t take her eyes off the canvas. “It’s beautiful, it explains us perfectly.” 

Each side of the canvas was a darker colour with clouds running vertically, but as the picture moved towards the middle the clouds broke, and there were two hands reaching out to meet - one paler than the other - with a sunrise behind them. It perfectly summarised how each of them had found the lighter side of life with each other. Jo placed her brush down and went over to pull Yaz into a hug. “You’ve made me see that not everything is bad in life. Even though things are a bit rough at the moment, I still feel so good when I’m with you.” 

They stood holding each other, but turning their heads to face the canvas so their cheeks were touching. “I know exactly what you mean,” Yaz moved slightly to rest her head just under Jo’s chin. “Reckon it’s bedtime, don’t you?” 

“Mmm. Oh, I haven’t set up the camp bed. I mean. I’ll sleep in it, just need to get it unfolded.” 

Yaz shook her head, “Jo, I know you’re managing pretty well with it now, but your left wrist is still in a cast love. Besides, I uh- wouldn’t mind a bit of company in bed tonight. It’s a double isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, um, yeah that might be nice,” Jo blushed, grateful Yaz couldn’t see. 

“Shall we continue this hug up there then?” Yaz asked. “Been kinda a long day.” 

Jo agreed and they made their way up to bed. Jo lent Yaz a pair of PJs and they both changed before getting into bed. Jo went on the right side, and opened her arm up for Yaz to lay next to her and rest her head on Jo’s chest. “Mmm this is nice,” Jo sighed happily and kissed the top of Yaz’s hair. 

Yaz smiled at the gesture, “whatever we wake up to tomorrow, we’re in this together now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh bless 'em in their own little world. Love them. Let me know what you think, your comments really do make me smile. Much love xx


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe how close we are getting to the end :(. Not sure exactly how close yet, because I'm rubbish at chapter-by-chapter planning, but it's getting there. Anyway, here's another one for you.

Reluctantly, Jo had to leave Yaz sleeping the next morning. She really was behind with painting, and now her mind was back somewhat straight, she wanted to get some done. After a quick shower, she got dressed and took one last look at Yaz sleeping before she crept out of the bedroom and downstairs. Ryan was sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen eating his cereal. “Morning Ry,” Jo smiled, putting some bread in the toaster. 

“Morning, you seem cheery,” Ryan commented.

She flicked the kettle on, “shouldn’t I be?” 

“Well, I just thought, you know,” he stumbled over his words.

“The whole, my ex-wife is after my money thing? Yeah that’s still kinda terrifying, but nothing I can do right now,” she shrugged. “Got work to do.” 

Ryan was clearly a little surprised at her fairly quick change of mood, but it was clear why. “How’s things with Yaz then?” he asked before taking another mouthful of cereal. Jo simply blushed and turned around to pour her tea. “Aww come on give me the gossip,” he added, taking his bowl to the sink now he’d finished. 

“They’re good, really good,” Jo replied, just loud enough for him to hear, before sighing and turning around to face him. “She’s the best thing to ever happen to me Ryan, I’m determined not to let anyone - including River - get in the way of that.” 

He smiled, “it’s good to see. You’re gonna get through this, both of ya.”

Jo nodded, her smile faltering for a moment. “You know today is the deadline she set?” she glanced at the clock. 

“I’m with Yaz’s mate, why would she tell people? She’ll never get what she wants that way. I mean sure, she can sell the story, but that won’t bring in the money she wants,” Ryan put a hand on her shoulder. “There’s a good team investigating her and that creep, it won’t be long now.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jo smiled again, “cheers Ry. Have a good day at work,” she grabbed her plate and mug and made her way to carry on painting. 

* * *

Holly had been working solid for almost 2 days when Bill came to see her. “You look knackered mate,” Bill commented. 

“Mmm gotta keep ahead of you know who,” she glanced back to the DCI’s office which was currently empty. “He’s not impressed I’ve proved him wrong.” 

“I bet,” she replied. “How’s it going? I’m assuming you didn’t just text me for a chat.” 

“Just wanted to let you know we’ve tracked them down,” Holly sat back. “I’ve got officers bringing them in as we speak.” 

Bill gasped, “no way! Wow great work. I guess you’ve got enough on them?” 

Holly grinned, gesturing to the computer screen where she had CCTV from the park up. “Bit of video evidence with some lip reading done. Plus we’ve got DNA from Jo’s flat which we are hoping will match with Hank Parsons. There’s a lot of other bits too I can’t really talk about, but let’s just say it’s promising. If we can get River in before the 48 hours are up we might save Jo and Yaz some heartache.” 

“Mate this is brilliant. You’ve worked so hard, I’m really grateful,” Bill replied. “You don’t have to say it either, my mouth is zipped.” 

“Thanks, I’ll talk to Yaz, Jo and Clara as soon as” she told her. 

Bill nodded, “I appreciate all of this mate. Truly. Keep me updated yeah?” She shook Holly’s hand and then left her to it. She’d not long finished her night shift so it was time to get home. As she was leaving the building, she spotted River and Hank being taken out of cars by the custody suite doors. She couldn’t help but look, and it wasn’t hard to see River staring back at her, an evil smirk on her face as she was led into the cells. Bill had to force herself not to run over there and do something that would probably get her fired. She shook her head, going over to her car and climbing in, deciding to go and check on Yaz on her way home. 

She jumped over the back fence, taking a quick glance around, but there was nobody sitting in the cars in this back alley so clearly whoever was monitoring Jo hadn’t caught on yet. Bill knocked on the back door, and a couple of moments later Jo appeared, specks of what Bill decided must have been paint on her jumper. “Oh heya Bill, everything alright?” Jo asked.

“Yeah all good, thought I’d come and check on you guys see how you were getting on,” Bill replied.

“Oh! Yeah we’re okay, Yaz is still asleep. Uh, come on in, i’ll get you a tea,” she moved to let Bill in. “Sorry, still not a great host,” Jo smiled as she put the kettle on. “You just finished work?” 

“Yeah, shift overran, not in tonight though so I’m not in a huge rush to get home,” she replied. “I take it you’ve been painting?” 

Jo looked down at her jumper, “yeah... I’m not the cleanest artist ever. I find it quite calming to do though.” 

“Yaz had mentioned you had a painting hobby. Good it’s something you can keep doing despite your cast too,” Bill commented, taking the mug of tea from Jo and thanking her. 

“It’s not as clean as it was when I started,” Jo chuckled. 

Bill grinned, “it suits you mate.” She sipped her tea, “how’s Yaz coping?” 

Jo glanced at the kitchen door, “she’s doing okay I think. We’re supporting each other, keeping busy. She was really shattered last night so I left her to sleep this morning.” 

“Good move, she’ll tell you off though,” Bill pointed out.

“Yeah I know,” Jo grinned. “Worth it though, she’ll feel better for it,” she drank her tea before finally looking back.

As she did, Bill’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see Holly was ringing her. She answered it, apologising to Jo and going into the lounge. “Hey, hope I didn’t wake you,” Holly spoke first.

“Nah I stopped at the O’Brien’s place on my way back so I’m with Jo,” she replied, making that point clear to her.

“Ah, that’s actually good timing, because I’ve got some good news for them. We’ve just charged both of them,” Holly told her.

“Really?! That’s so quick,” Bill replied. 

“I know, but it was pretty easy. So far it’s only for the break in at Jo’s flat - Hank’s DNA matched and weirdly he dropped River in it for giving him the information so we’ve got that. Now it’s just getting them for everything else. Either way, they’re locked up now. Should worn you, we’re coming after the guy sitting outside the house later too,” Holly explained.

Bill took all that in, “blimey. Well thank you for that, I’ll pass the messages on. Make sure you get some rest at some point.” 

They finished the call and she hung up, going back into the kitchen where Yaz was now standing with Jo. She paused in the doorway to observe them. Yaz had her arms around Jo’s waist, and Jo’s arms were draped over Yaz’s shoulder as they talked. “You should’ve woken me up,” Yaz tutted.

“How could I? You looked so peaceful,” Jo dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Plus you needed to sleep, and I needed to paint. Seemed like a good compromise to get it done.” 

Yaz hummed a reluctant agreement, “still, the bed felt weirdly empty.” 

“I’ll stay next time, promise,” Jo smiled and they shared a kiss.

That’s when Bill decided to make her entrance known, clearing her throat as she walked in. “Sorry to interrupt.” 

“No you’re not,” Yaz replied as she turned to face her.

“Well, no not really - you two are sickening, but I do have good news,” she told them. 

Bill persuaded them to go into the lounge to talk, so they all took their mugs of tea and sat down in the lounge. Yaz and Jo sat together on the adjacent sofa and Bill noted how they kept some form of contact between them at all times. “So Holly just called me. They’ve arrested and charged both River and Hank.” 

“Seriously?” Yaz sat up slightly, “that’s so quick.” 

“I know, I was surprised too. I confess, I knew they were bringing them in - Holly spoke to me this morning. They’ve managed to match DNA to Hank from your flat Jo, and he’s dobbed River in for giving him the details for the break in so that was enough to charge them both. They’ve still got a lot to do in bringing charges for everything else, but it means they’ve got them,” Bill explained and then waited for them to take it in.

Jo clearly spent a moment before she spoke. “So we’re safe now?” 

“I can’t make any promises on that straight away, we don’t know who else is involved. There’s still that guy chilling in the car outside, but they’ve already got a plan to come and talk to him later, but whoever is involved there is nobody for them to report to anymore. Holly will talk to you more as soon as she can,” she explained to them. 

Yaz squeezed Jo’s hand, “it’s good babe, it means we’re getting out the other side.” She looked up to Bill, “thank you so much.” 

“Nothing to do with me mate, just the messenger. I’ll leave you guys be. Give us a shout if you need anything,” she smiled and downed the rest of her tea before heading out. 

Jo was staring at their linked hands. “We’re gonna be okay.” 

Yaz smiled, “yeah we’re going to be just fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY'VE BEEN CAUGHT it's party time guys. Hope you enjoyed, let me know!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was torn as to whether to make this a longer chapter or split it... and in the end this felt like a natural split point, so it's just the usual length, but there should be another chapter very shortly!

The more Holly interviewed River, the more she detested the woman. She was so smug, trying to charm them, but neither her nor DCI Rodgers were taken in. Holly, however, was a bit smug that he’d come round to her opinions, even if he was making out it was all his idea. She was currently going over evidence, when an email popped up on her screen. 

_ Forensic report ID5124 _

It was the report from River’s break-in that Holly had requested. It didn’t take long to find the information she wanted, so she jumped up and practically ran into her senior’s office. “There was no evidence of a break in, but she told us they’d forced their way in. The medical review also states the angle of the blade would be in keeping with her doing it herself, and the nearby CCTV shows no evidence of anyone running away from the house at the time stated. The images she provided have been faked. She staged the whole thing.” 

DCI Rodgers took the printed out evidence from her. “One step along. I’ll get this in, how’s it going with the other chap? He telling us anything yet?” 

“We’re working on him. He’ll crack,” Holly replied. 

* * *

Yaz woke up in Jo’s arms, it never got old. It had been 4 days since River was arrested, and today Yaz was going home. She looked up at Jo as she slept, peaceful and absolutely gorgeous. She’d got far too used to this so quickly and didn’t really want it to end, but she knew it had to. Jo was moving back to her flat today too, and they both needed to get back to some normality. When her eyes flickered a little to suggest she was waking up, Yaz moved a little so she could kiss her softly. “Morning gorgeous.” 

“Mmmm no,” Jo shut her eyes again and pulled Yaz closer. “M’comfy.” 

“Me too babe, but we need to get up. I’m due home shortly,” Yaz carefully brushed Jo’s hair out of her face. 

Jo huffed, opening her eyes and turning onto her side so she and Yaz were face to face. “Gonna miss waking up with you.” 

“I know, so am I, but I’ll see you again soon,” she found Jo’s hand under the duvet and linked their fingers together. “You might get a bit more work done without distraction too.” 

“True, am kinda behind,” she grinned. “Don’t mind being distracted by you though,” she kissed Yaz gently. “Especially like this,” she said between kisses. 

She wasn’t wrong, kissing Jo was addictive. She could do this for hours and never be bored, but it definitely wouldn’t get them both home. “Hmmm yes, but Donna might kill you, or me, or maybe both of us,” Yaz chuckled and sat herself up, jumping out of bed before Jo could grab her back down again. “I’m gonna shower, then I’ll make breakfast. See you down there yeah?” 

True to her word, Yaz was just finishing breakfast when Jo came down. Her face lit up when she saw the pancake pile Yaz had built for her. “Woah, they look amazin’.” 

“I know,” Yaz grinned. “Keep you going for a bit.” 

They sat down together to eat, mugs of tea already provided. “Grace was just heading out when I came down, Graham will be back mid morning to help you move everything back. Mum’s picking me up in about an hour, but I’m all packed.” Jo nodded, going all quiet as she played a little with the food on her plate using the fork. “You okay?” Another nod. Yaz put her fork down, reaching her hand across to the fingers of Jo’s left hand. “Hey, talk to me?” 

“It’s nothin’, just being stupid,” Jo shrugged. 

“Nah uh none of that, what’s up?” Yaz asked her again. 

She finally put her fork down. “I’m scared of being alone again,” she spoke quietly. 

“Jo, look at me,” Yaz waited for her to look up. “You are never going to be alone again, not really. I’m on the end of a phone always when I’m not at work, you’ll be going back to work at the café too so you’ll see them. It’ll be fine, and I’ll see you on my next rest day,” she carefully lifted her casted hand and kissed her fingers. “Now eat up, I know you want to.” 

“S’really good,” Jo replied, a small smile reappearing on her face as she started to eat again.

* * *

There had been a long goodbye, but Yaz was now on her way home and being quizzed by her mother on everything that had happened. She gave her Mum the answers she was looking for - they were safe now, work would be fine, she felt alright. Of course her mother still wasn’t happy so she kept reassuring her until they got back to their flat. 

It was a rare time that she and Sonya would hug - it was generally saved for special occasions, but as soon as Yaz walked in her sister jumped on her and hugged her tight. “Cheers Son,” Yaz said as they did. 

“Knew you’d be too stubborn to call her yourself,” Sonya tutted as she pulled away. “Where is she anyway?” 

“Working in her hotel. She’s hanging around until this is sorted properly, but still has to do her job. We’re gonna catch up at the weekend,” Yaz explained. 

Her family as a whole fussed over her the whole day, which was a little frustrating, but she let them do it. Aboud mid-evening she retired to her bedroom, stating that she needed sleep before work, but actually wanting to catch up on how Jo was doing. 

_ Yaz [20:13]: You get back okay? Xx _

_ Jo [20:13]: All in, just reorganising the art room. Were your family okay? Xx _

_ Yaz [20:14]: Won’t leave me alone! Claimed I wanted an early night to get rid of them. Good to be back though, even Son gave me a hug xx _

_ Jo [20:14]: Wow, from what you’ve told me that’s a rarity. Did- did your Mum say anything about, you know, us? Xx _

_ Yaz [20:15]: Not really, I don’t think it’s clicked yet. Probably not the right time yet anyway, but don’t worry about that babe xx  _

_ Jo [20:16]: Love it when you call me babe ;) xx _

_ Yaz [20:17]: Cheeky :p. I’m gonna settle down in bed with netflix, make sure you get to bed at a good time xx _

_ Jo [20:17]: Yes Mum _

_ Jo [20:17]: Goodnight, stay safe tomorrow xxx _

Yaz smiled, putting her phone down and grabbing her laptop. 

* * *

When she walked into work the next morning, most people were giving her sympathetic looks. Thankfully, Bill was not one of them. “Morning slacker,” she joked when Yaz walked into the locker room. “How’s the girlfriend?” 

“She’s alright thanks, how are you doing?” Yaz asked, chucking her bag in the locker and pulling out her travel mug before shutting the door. 

“Better now I haven’t got Mr Boring as a partner. Honestly I’d rather have been on my own,” she moaned. “Saw Clara last night, she said things were going well.” 

Yaz raised an eyebrow, “how have you seen my best friend before I have?”

“Saw her in the supermarket,” Bill chuckled. “She said you guys are meeting up at the weekend?” 

“Yeah. She wants to meet Jo properly too, not that I’ve asked Jo yet… one thing at a time,” Yaz replied. “Come on, let’s get going.” 

They jumped in the car, Yaz driving, and immediately got called out. In fact it was a busy morning and they were all over Sheffield handling various call outs. Things often hotted up in December as Christmas approached, and this was clearly no different. They got back to the car after a lunchtime pub scuffle, glad it was finally time for their break. “Blimey, that was ridiculous. Drunk people will argue about everything.” 

“Oh to be drunk at lunchtime,” Bill sighed. Yaz rolled her eyes and hit her arm. “What? You really telling me you’ve never done a daytime pub crawl?” 

“Surprisingly, no. However I can do you free coffee, we’re not far from Grace’s café,” she smiled and started the car. “Might even treat you to a toastie.” 

“You’re too good to me Yasmin Khan,” Bill grinned. 

It didn’t take long for them to arrive and they parked up outside before going in. Yaz loved opening the door to the café, the smell was divine. The scent of freshly baked bread and cakes spread around the room constantly - if she could box it up and take it home she would. 

Grace had been crouched behind the counter when they walked in, but when she stood up there was a smile on her face. “Well isn’t it lovely to see your faces in here again.” 

“You did only see me yesterday,” Yaz pointed out.

“Very true, but it’s good to see you back in uniform. What can I get you both?” Grace asked, straightening her apron out.

Yaz placed their order and they sat down at one of the tables to wait, chatting away. She noticed Bill’s eyes were looking behind her, but Yaz didn’t have time to turn around before Jo jumped at her, putting a hand on her shoulder and making her jump. Bill laughed and Yaz kicked her under the table as she turned around in her chair. “I didn’t think you were in until later,” Yaz smiled and stood up to hug her.

“Graham pulled a muscle yesterday so I offered to come in at lunch to help out. Got loads done this morning,” Jo reassured her. “I mean I’m not loads of help, but m’tryin,” she shrugged. 

“You’re being marvellous. It’s not too busy now, have a sit down and I’ll bring you some food too,” Grace smiled and put the drinks down for Bill and Yaz before disappearing back into the kitchen. Yaz sat back down and Jo joined her. 

Bill picked up the takeaway cup and held it, “well now I feel like a third wheel,” she commented, smirking at Yaz. 

“I’ll do more than kick you in a minute,” Yaz rolled her eyes. 

“Now now PC Khan that’s not a very professional thing to say,” Bill tutted. 

Jo giggled beside her, “hang on, whose side are you on here?” Yaz asked her. “Cheeky sod. Did you get your room sorted?” 

“Absolutely, it’s perfect now,” she replied, relaxing her good arm over Yaz’s shoulders. 

“You mean a complete mess?” Yaz replied.

“It’s the only way to work,” Jo responded with a completely serious expression. Bill looked to Yaz who just shrugged. “What?” 

Yaz smiled and kissed her cheek, “you’re just cute s’all.” 

“I would like to clarify that is not what I meant at all,” Bill held her hands up. “She thinks you’re cute, I’m just confused.” 

Jo blushed a little at Yaz’s kiss, but turned to respond to Bill. “You sure, not even a little bit? I am quite cute.” 

“I uh-” Bill got a little flustered, not sure how to respond.

“Ha! Never thought I’d see Bill Potts speechless,” Yaz grinned. “Good work Jo.” 

“Damn I can see you’re gonna be annoying,” Bill huffed, but they all chuckled slightly. Yaz was so grateful the two of them were getting on. Was this what it was like to have a group of friends? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of cuteness and filler I suppose... but I hope you enjoyed :). Leave a lil comment if you fancy, they do make me very happy xx


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh here goes! I kinda love this chapter, I hope you do too. I'm back to work this week, but hoping to get another chapter up before Christmas! Enjoy lovelies xx

By the time the weekend came, Yaz and Clara meeting up had turned into Jo, Bill and Ryan joining them. Before the group got together, the two friends met up in a café near Clara’s hotel. Yaz had been running a little late, so jogged into the café at 16:41. “Sorry, got caught up with something at home,” she shrugged her coat off. Clara stood up and the two friends hugged briefly. “It’s good to see you not in an interview room.” 

Clara chuckled, “yeah well, good job Sonya called me isn’t it? I’ve got that covered anyway. You’re fine. Have you heard how things are going with the troublesome two?” 

“Not really, but as long as they’re gone I don’t really care. Just want Jo to feel safe,” she spoke as she sat down. “Thanks for this,” she picked up the mug of tea Clara had already ordered for her.

“No problem. So tell me more about Jo,” Clara leant her elbows on the table expectantly. 

Yaz rolled her eyes, “getting straight to the point then are we?” 

“Absolutely. You never told me about her!” Clara tutted. “Plus your family refers to her as your new friend,” she raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah they don’t know yet,” Yaz replied honestly. “It’s been kinda a wild ride. It’s still new, although I guess it’s been a good few weeks now.” Clara nodded, gesturing for Yaz to give her more information. She should’ve known her friend would be very keen to know about her love life, and the more Yaz thought about it, the more she knew Clara was the only she could talk to about this. “I really like her,” she blushed and covered her face briefly before peaking her eyes out to see her friend practically beaming at her. “I know it’s the most ridiculous way for a relationship to start, but I just couldn’t stop visiting her after the welfare visit.”

Clara took a sip of her tea, “obviously I learned quite a bit about Jo’s past with the case. Poor love has been through quite a bit hasn’t she?” 

“More than she deserves,” Yaz sighed. “Jo’s amazing, she’s so talented and caring. She’s the craziest person I’ve ever met and I don’t know if I’ll ever understand how her mind works - it’s like a whirlwind being with her sometimes, but I wouldn’t change anything.”

“You’ve got such a big smile on your face right now Yaz,” Clara chuckled. “You really like her don’t you?” 

Yaz nodded behind her mug, trying to hide her warm cheeks. “For our first date she took me to an empty art gallery and we had a picnic under a projected night sky. It was crazy and beautiful and completely perfect.” 

“That’s quite the first date,” Clara replied. “She clearly cares for you a lot, I saw that when I was with you both,” she grinned, “oh Yaz you’ve fallen fast mate.” 

“I just see my future with her. Spending those few days together felt so perfect and all I could think about was how that is what I want - is that mad?” Yaz asked. “I haven’t said that to Jo obviously - I don't want to scare her.” 

Clara raised an eyebrow, “well I’ve never heard you say that before.” 

“That I don’t want to scare her?” Yaz asked, a little confused.

“No you fool! I’ve never heard you talk about your future like that. You always live in the present or the past and I’m  _ always  _ telling you off for it - but you’re actually looking forward now,” Clara put her drink down. “I know you want to be careful, with everything Jo’s been through, but have you thought that maybe she’s thinking the same thing?” 

That made Yaz think. She’d just assumed that Jo wouldn’t want to rush anything. “We haven’t even said the L word yet, I think moving in is a stretch at this point.” 

“Maybe get on with that then,” the lawyer shrugged, picking up her tea again and finishing it up. “Speaking of which, aren’t we meant to be meeting Jo and Bill soon?” 

Yaz glanced at her phone and saw the time, “oh! Yes we’d better go,” she downed the last bit of her tea, standing up. “Just be good tonight,” Yaz grinned at her.

“When would I not be?” 

* * *

Bill had offered to have the group round at her place, so Yaz picked Jo up on her way and Clara drove herself over. When they arrived, Yaz noticed her girlfriend looking nervous. “You okay babe?” 

“What if they don’t like me?” Jo asked, looking down at her lap.

Yaz unclipped her seatbelt now the car was stopped, turning in her seat to face Jo. “They already love you Jo. Bill took the piss outta you the other day - that’s basically an expression of love from her. Clara can’t wait to meet you outside a professional setting and she absolutely will not be disappointed. I know her well, you guys will get on perfectly,” she reached for Jo’s hand and squeezed it. “If you need to leave at any time just tell me, I know this is a big thing for you. Don’t overthink it, just be yourself.”

“You’re the best Yaz,” Jo told her. “Okay, let’s go. S’kinda cold out here.” 

They made their way out of the car and up to the front door. Yaz knocked and shuffled a little closer to Jo for warmth as they waited and the blonde took the hint, sliding an arm around her waist. It didn’t take long for Bill to appear and open the door. “Well hello lovebirds, come on in. The tea is made, we are just debating take out options,” she moved to let them in. 

Clara was sitting in the lounge with her mug, but put it down to stand up and greet the couple. Yaz watched as she offered a hug to Jo, not jumping straight into it as she usually would and letting Jo instigate it - which she did, after a small nod from Yaz. “It’s good to meet you properly, under slightly better circumstances.” 

“You too, I like learning more about Yaz,” Jo sat down with Yaz on the adjacent sofa to Clara and Bill. 

“Well that I can definitely do,” Clara grinned. 

“This is the type of content I’m here for,” Bill added.

Yaz groaned, “why do I feel like I’m going to regret getting you all together?” 

Clara crossed her legs on the sofa, holding her mug again and smirking, “you most definitely are.” 

The conversation did quickly divert off to food for a few minutes while they decided what to get - eventually settling on pizza. After that, the stories about Yaz began to spread between them. Clara had plenty of brutal ones from childhood, especially teenage years. The first time Yaz had drunk and they’d had to hide it from her parents, the time she skipped school in her uniform so got caught almost straight away and Clara’s personal favourite - when Yaz was very young and she went into the wrong loos and tried to use a urinal. That had everyone in hysterics and Yaz covering her face. Bill had her say, of course, and even Jo piped up with the story of Yaz jumping when a butterfly landed on her at the zoo. 

Despite the blatant attack, the evening was one of the best Yaz had enjoyed in a long time. When the food arrived they all settled down a bit, putting music on while they chatted over their food. When Yaz was full, she sat back and lifted her legs up onto the sofa, leaning her head on Jo’s shoulder as they chatted. When Jo had finished, she put her good arm around Yaz. She was tired now, but wasn’t going to admit it. Clara was asking Jo various questions, and Jo seemed to be enjoying answering them. It was nice to hear her friends interacting. 

“Do you work?” Clara asked. Yaz glanced up at Jo slightly, wondering how she would answer.

“I guess I’m sort of self-employed, but my work kinda fell aside with everything. I’ve been helping Grace out at the café the last couple of months though which is quite nice, plus Yaz and Bill come in on their breaks which is a bonus,” Jo grinned. 

“Yeah I have to put up with these two getting all lovey dovey while I’m trying to eat my lunch,” Bill tutted jokingly. 

“Ah you love it really,” Jo replied. “I’d offer to set you up, but the only single person I know is Ryan and well… he’s not really your type.” 

Yaz giggled from her position while Bill crossed her arms. “She’s trouble Clara, I’m tellin’ you.” 

Clara made eye contact with Yaz, smiling at her as the banter continued between Jo and Bill. 

Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted by Yaz’s phone ringing. She grabbed it from the table and reluctantly stood up to answer it in the hall. “Hello?” 

“Hey Yaz, it’s Holly,” she answered. Yaz pushed the door to the lounge closed. “Sorry it’s late, are you okay to talk?” 

“Yeah, yes I’m fine. Has something happened?” she asked. She could feel palpitations in her chest at all the things Holly could say next. 

Yaz sat herself down on the stairs, deciding that being stood up might not be the best option. “I wanted to be the person to tell you both. The man that accused you of being involved? He’s finally talked. Told us everything. The CPS have granted permission to charge both River and Hank with a whole list of charges, and you’re officially in the clear. Obviously you’re both likely to be called as witnesses, but we’ve got a strong case now, this woman won’t be a problem for you anymore.” 

She sat back, running a hand through her hair, “wow. Thank you so much - for everything. I definitely owe you a drink.” 

“Just doing my job Yaz,” Holly replied.

“Absolutely not. You’ve done far more than your job and you know it. You’re still at the office at nine thirty right now! Make sure you get home soon,” Yaz told her.

“Yes ma’am,” Holly replied jokingly. “I’ll leave you to pass the news on. Good night Yaz.” 

They hung up and Yaz took a moment for herself to process the new information. It wasn’t over, but it was a weight off their shoulders for certain. She didn’t realise how long she’d been sat there until Jo appeared at the lounge door. “Is everything okay?” 

Yaz nodded, moving across on the step so Jo could sit beside her, which she did. “That was Holly. They’ve officially charged them with everything - the other guy talked. I’m in the clear, River’s gonna be locked up, we’re free babe,” she took her hand and looked at Jo. 

“That’s amazing news,” Jo smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “We can start fresh.” 

“It’s not hanging over us anymore, we can focus on us. There’ll be the trial, obviously, but Holly thinks that’s almost a formality now, the evidence is piling in. It’s just you and me against the word now.” Yaz turned, sliding a hand round the back of Jo’s neck to pull her in for another kiss.

Bill cleared her throat at the door and they jumped apart. 

Yaz was actually facing away from the door, but rolled her eyes anyway. Jo looked up at Bill, “can we help you?” 

“Clara was concerned you’d been a while, I told her you were probably making out. I was right. Should’ve put money on it,” she tutted. “Do you need a room or…” 

There was a nearby slipper on the floor and Yaz was quick to grab it and lob it towards her friend. “You’re so annoying.”

“Well you didn’t exactly pick the most private place to have a moment,” Bill shrugged. “You coming back in?” 

Yaz looked at Jo, who took the lead. “Yes, we’ve got some news. Then I think we might go?” she checked with Yaz who nodded. They definitely had more to say to each other.

They returned to the lounge and sat down, explaining what Holly had told Yaz about what was going on. There were hugs shared between all of them, Clara promised she would see Yaz before she returned to Ireland, and they thanked Bill for the evening. Bill informed them she was setting up a group whatsapp. Jo asked what whatsapp was.

Soon after, they left the house hand in hand and made their way to Yaz’s car. “Do you want to come back to mine?” Jo asked. 

“Unless you really want to be grilled by my parents,” Yaz chuckled. “Yeah, definitely yours.” 

They drove in relative silence, but Jo’s hand rested on Yaz’s thigh the whole drive, as if unable to break that contact between them. It wasn’t too long before they reached Jo’s flats and Yaz parked up outside. Making their way inside, Jo quickly put the kettle on while Yaz took her coat off, but was quickly distracted when the police officer slid her hands around her waist from behind and rested her chin on the artist’s shoulder. “Hi,” Yaz turned her head to kiss Jo’s cheek. 

“Hi,” Jo couldn’t resist turning round in her arms and kissing her properly. “Mmm I like doing this.” 

“Me too,” Yaz giggled a little and pressed another kiss to her lips before settling with their foreheads touching. “You’re amazing Jo, truly incredible. I feel so lucky to know the real you, and I can’t wait to move forward in life with you. All I could think about when I was locked in that cell was how much I wanted to be back in your arms. You’ve left a lasting impression on me, Jo Smith, and I love it. I love you.” 

“Oh Yasmin Khan, I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! Would love to see your thoughts xx


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never intended to have a Christmas chapter up at Christmas, but looks like it's happening - so this one had to go out first! Back to work tomorrow, so hoping I can get the next on up on Thursday/Friday. Only 2/3 chapters left I think... Enjoy xx

Christmas was getting closer, but so was Jo’s exhibition which was due to open on the 31st December and she was starting to stress about it. Yaz finished her day shift and hadn’t heard from Jo at all, which made her worry slightly. They hadn’t met up for a few days as she was working, but something told Yaz it was worth popping in tonight. She still hadn’t told her parents about Jo, but they were starting to ask more questions about where she kept disappearing to. Nevertheless, she dropped a message off to her Mum to say she would be late home and not to wait for her, before getting into her car and off to Jo’s flat.

Thankfully she still had her key from the previous crisis, not that she’d been using it, but when Jo didn’t answer the buzzer she got concerned and let herself in. The stairs in this building were always a killer, but the lift was a little temperamental so Yaz still jogged up the steep staircase to Jo’s flat, knocking the door. “Jo? It’s just me, you alright in there?” No answer. Yaz wasn’t going to wait and let herself in instead, calling out her name again as she did.

Still with no answer, Yaz tried not to panic and instead made her way to the art room and found Jo staring at the canvas in front of her, brush in hand but not actually painting. The blonde was muttering to herself, listing things off maybe? Yaz couldn’t really catch what she was saying, or maybe she could and didn’t understand it, either way she could see straight away that Jo looked completely shattered. She made her way over, not entirely sure if Jo had registered she was there. “Jo? What’s going on sweetheart?” 

Jo jumped a little when Yaz lay her hand on her shoulder, spinning around. “Oh, hi Yaz, were you coming over today?” 

“No, but you’ve been a little quiet and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Then you didn’t answer the door so I had to let myself up, I hope that’s okay,” Yaz explained. “Jo you look really tired, come and sit down for a bit.” 

“No time for that,” Jo replied, going to look back at the canvas, but Yaz stopped her.

“Jo when was the last time you ate? Drank?” Yaz asked.

The artist stopped and thought for a second, “what time is it? Wait no- what day?” 

“It’s Wednesday 23rd December, about 6pm,” Yaz replied. 

“Huh…” Jo replied. “Interesting.” 

Yaz shook her head, “do you always get like this before a show?” 

“Nah, River used to- well, I wouldn’t be allowed. I usually enjoy painting. Maybe I’m thinking too much, being the first one back for so long,” Jo sighed. 

“Well it’s my job to intervene now. Put your brush down, go and have a shower and I’ll get a meal together,” she kissed her temple. “No arguments, come on,” Yaz put a slightly sterner voice. 

Jo gave in, putting her painting materials down and letting Yaz guide her out of the room and shut the door. They parted ways at that point, and Yaz watched Jo disappear into the bedroom. Only then did she go to the kitchen and start on dinner - which was a little difficult with the randomness of Jo’s cupboard contents. Thankfully she had pasta and some sauce ingredients so Yaz created something she hoped would taste alright. She was so focussed on cooking that she didn’t hear Jo reappear behind her straight away. “That feels so much better,” Jo leant against the counter beside Yaz who smiled. She secretly loved Jo's hair when it was damp. 

Putting the spoon she was using down for a second, Yaz pulled her close for a quick kiss. “I’m glad. How long have you been feeling like this?” she placed a hand on her neck, rubbing her cheek with her thumb softly.

“Couple of days I guess, I lost track of time,” Jo sighed. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you rather than go quiet.” 

Yaz shook her head, “it’s okay, we’re both learning our way through this. Do you want me to stay tonight? I’m off now until boxing day,” she reminded her. 

“Please,” Jo replied quietly and then looked behind Yaz. “That looks good.”

Always distracted by food, Yaz chuckled to herself as she turned back to stir the sauce. “Get us some drinks then, it’ll only be a minute.” 

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Yaz to dish up and take the bowls over to the table where Jo was waiting. “There’s more if you’re still hungry after that,” she told her. Jo got stuck straight in, and Yaz felt both glad she was eating, but a little sad at how hungry she must have been. 

They ate in some silence, mostly as Jo didn’t have her mouth empty for long enough. Only once she’d finished up her second bowl full of pasta did Yaz approach a question she’d been wondering. “Is there anything else on your mind? I know you need to have everything finished for boxing day, but I thought you were getting on okay.” 

“I am, it’s basically all done,” Jo replied. “I’m so nervous for this show Yaz, it’s different to anything I’ve done before. What if they don’t like it?” 

Yaz moved her chair round the table so she saw sat facing Jo, who also turned so their knees were touching and Yaz could take her hands. “Jo the world loves you. They love The Doctor. The show has been booked out from the moment it was announced, the media are buzzing for you. It’s going to be perfect.” She had to admit it had been strange seeing things all over the news about ‘The Doctor’ now she knew Jo. Even at home, her Dad was a huge art fan and he’d been the one to take her to the exhibitions in the past. He had booked tickets for them all to go later in January his daughter would be at the opening night with the artist - not that anyone would know who they were. “I’m going to be right there with you.” 

“You’re amazing,” Jo lifted Yaz’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I um, there was something else. It’s kinda last minute and probably too late, but I was sort of hoping we could spend some of Christmas day together? I know you don’t really celebrate it but you’re probably spending time with your family so don’t worry-” 

Yaz squeezed her hand to get her attention, “babe you’re rambling again. You know a little birdy told me how much you love Christmas.” 

“Ryan?” Jo asked.

“Of course,” Yaz replied. “He also told me you were going over there for Christmas dinner, and asked me to join you. I declined, because we do have a family dinner and given I haven’t told them about you yet… well, y’know. Anyway, I was thinking on my shift today, maybe I could join you all in the afternoon?” 

Jo’s face lit up when she said that. “Yes! I’d love that. Christmas with Yaz. Perfect.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Yaz replied. “Why don’t we get to bed hm? You look shattered, you deserve to rest.” 

Surprisingly, there was little argument from Jo. They moved to the bedroom and Jo found Yaz some PJs to borrow. They climbed into bed together, and this time Jo rested herself on Yaz’s chest, letting her girlfriend hold her. It wasn’t long before the artist dropped off. Yaz kissed the top of her head gently as she did, stroking her hair. It hadn’t been long since they’d last shared a bed, but Yaz couldn’t help but think how much she’d missed it. 

Jo made a small contended noise in her sleep, Yaz smiled and watched as she adjusted ever so slightly. She looked so peaceful, a huge contrast to when Yaz had arrived earlier that evening. The police officer couldn’t take her eyes off the sleeping woman in her arms, she was gorgeous, how did Yaz get so lucky? Now they were going to spend Christmas together too. Yaz was never a huge Christmas fan until now, and as she thought of the presents wrapped in her bedroom for Jo, she kissed her girlfriend’s head one more time and shut her eyes, dropping off with a smile on her face.

* * *

After breakfast, Yaz made her way home. Jo was a lot happier, but she did have work to do and Yaz needed to change. In theory, the flat should’ve been empty when she got back, but apparently her suspicions were incorrect. “Oh here she comes, walk of shame,” Sonya smirked. 

“What’re you doing here?” Yaz asked, “you’re meant to be at college.” 

“Class got cancelled,” Sonya chucked a grape in her mouth. “So, where were you last night?” 

“Helping a friend, not that it’s any of your business,” she shrugged, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m gonna shower, then I need to go shopping.” 

Before she could make her way back down the corridor to her bedroom, Sonya had shot in front of her and blocked her path. “Nah you’re not getting away that easy Yaz. You’ve barely been around recently, ‘specially since you got banged up. You’re being really secretive, you’ve suddenly got friends, but we’ve not met any of them?” 

“You’ve met Clara, and you know Bill’s my partner at work - we just became closer recently,” Yaz tried to justify herself, but Sonya didn’t move.

“Not convincing me sis. You’ve definitely met someone,” Sonya emphasised her statement by pointing at Yaz. “Come on, who are they? Is he cute?” Yaz felt a pang in her chest at the last question, and the burst of emotion caused her to push by her sister, almost flinging Sonya against the wall as she made her way to the bedroom. “Woah Yasmin chill out,” she tutted. Yaz slammed the door. 

She leant against the door from inside her room, a hand on her chest as she tried to calm down. She’d been avoiding the conversation about Jo for so long, because quite frankly she was terrified about how her family would react. Her parents were bad enough when Sonya had a boyfriend, let alone her having a girlfriend. While she was trying to breathe, her phone vibrated and she pulled it from her pocket, a picture from Jo. 

_ Jo [10.15]: Last piece done! You were right - I was closer to finishing than I thought. Donna’s on her way, we’re gonna move into the gallery later. Thanks for all your help Yaz, can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Love you xx _

Yaz read the text twice, then pulled her phone to her chest and held it as if hugging it. Jo was there, she loved her, adored her. Even the thought of that made her feel comforted that whatever happened here, she wouldn’t be alone.

“Yaz?” Sonya knocked quietly on the door. “Y’alright?” 

She took a deep breath, turning and opening the door for her sister. “Her name’s Jo,” she said without thinking anymore about it. 

There was a short pause where Yaz definitely didn’t take a breath, before Sonya walked in and sat on her bed. “So, is she cute?” Shocked by her sister’s reaction, Yaz stood in place. “Oi, show us a picture you can’t leave me hanging.” 

“Wait, you’re not mad?” Yaz asked, still standing by the door. 

“For what?” Sonya asked, “oh - because she’s a she? Nah, course not. Sorry, shouldn’t have assumed. Now where’s that photo?” 

Finally, Yaz dropped her bag and went to sit beside her sister on the bed, unlocking her phone and opening a photo of her and Jo from a walk they’d taken a few days prior, handing her sister over. “Met her at work.” 

“Course you did, you don’t go anywhere else,” Sonya replied without looking up. “Damn she is gorgeous - great catch. I mean, not my type like, but well done. So give me details - how long you two been at it?” 

After a quick nudge to her sister, Yaz took the phone back, still looking at the photo. “Few months now, we’ve been taking it slow. She- it’s her ex that was setting me up. Jo knows the O’Brien’s too, that’s why we stayed there while it was all going on.” 

“Oh your mates with the fit lad,” Sonya recalled, earning another nudge from Yaz’s elbow. “Well I’m glad she’s making you happy sis, you deserve it.” 

Eventually Yaz looked away from her phone and up to her sister. “Thanks Son, seriously. That means a lot.” 

“Need a hand shopping today?” 

Yaz smiled, “sure. I’ll buy lunch.” 

“Was hoping you’d say that,” Sonya chuckled. “Meet you at the front door in half an hour.” She left Yaz in her room to get sorted. 

_ Yaz [10:36]: Well done babe. See you tomorrow. Love you too xx _


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas you gorgeous lot! Thank you so much for sticking around with me. Let's have Christmas with our favourite duo...

Yaz felt a little guilty that she had spent Christmas morning clock watching. As lovely as it was doing the small present exchange with her family and enjoying lunch together, she was just waiting for 3pm to arrive. That was the time agreed with her parents she would go and 'visit her friends for the evening'. It wasn't technically a lie, she just missed out the part that she was dating one of them. 

Sonya had agreed to keep her secret, for which Yaz was grateful. She did have to buy her a new jacket, but Yaz didn't mind that - her sister had been really helpful the previous day. They'd spent the whole afternoon up town, and Sonya had convinced her she needed a new outfit for Christmas with Jo - which was why there was currently a bag of clothes and makeup alongside the presents in the boot of her car. 

After lunch was finished, Yaz offered to help her Mum wash up, so the two of them went into the kitchen area while Sonya and Hakim retired to the sofas. Yaz grabbed a teatowel and stood by the side of the sink. "It's nice that you've got some good friends now Yaz." Najia stated, but Yaz knew this was the beginning of questioning. 

"I've known Grace and Graham properly for almost a year now, and I went to school with Ryan. It's not that much of a surprise," Yaz pointed out. 

Najia nodded, placing another plate on the rack. "I know, but you've been spending a lot more time out, and with your work friend too. You've been smiling a lot more, it's nice." 

"Mum you're not fooling anyone," Yaz reached for the plate now it had drained a little. "What are you trying to ask me?"

Caught out, her Mum went straight to the point. "Are you and Ryan… ya know? Together?"

Yaz almost dropped the plate. "No! Absolutely not!" She could hear Sonya sniggering across the room. Yaz threw a nearby sponge at her. 

"Yasmin!" Her mother tutted, but clearly wasn't actually that angry. "Just wondering, you just seem a lot happier recently - which considering what's happened seemed a little strange."

"Sorry, I'll try and be more upset next time I get arrested," Yaz replied sarcastically, but her mum's look made her continue. "I've just got a good group of people around me now Mum." 

That seemed to appease Najia for now, but Yaz knew she would have to tell them about Jo eventually. 

* * *

Finally 3pm rolled around and after a quick goodbye to her parents and a nod from Sonya, she made her way down to her car. 

Changing in the car was a little tricky, but thankfully she managed it, swapping her regular jumper for the black patterned blouse Sonya had picked out. The sleeves were long, but sheer along with the top part of the blouse. It wasn't her usual choice, but she wanted to make an effort. 

Next was makeup which she did in the small mirror. She'd done the base that morning, but now she just added a touch of lipstick and some details on her eyes. "That'll have to do," she muttered to herself, zipping up the makeup bag. It was time to go.

The drive was quick and easy, with barely any traffic on the roads. Yaz parked up a few doors down from the O'Brien house and walked back down, carrying the bag with presents in. She hadn't even made it to their drive when Jo came running at her, slippers on her feet still and dressed in an extremely bright Christmas tree suit. Damn she looked good in a suit, even if it was garish. "You made it!" Jo pulled her into a hug and then kissed her excitedly. 

"I did, but can we go inside? It's freezing out here and this top doesn't provide much insulation," Yaz managed to get out even with the mop of blonde hair in her face.

Only now did Jo step back and take in Yaz's outfit. Her tight skinny black jeans, the blouse and knee high boots. The artist's jaw could've touched the floor. Yaz internally thanked Sonya. 

"You two coming in or is Jo too busy undressing you with her eyes?" Ryan called from the door, grabbing Yaz's attention. She shot him a glare while Jo blushed, shutting her mouth. 

"I wasn't- I mean-" Jo stuttered over her words. 

Yaz walked over, taking her hand. "I'm glad you like it," she spoke loud enough for only Jo to hear. "Love the suit by the way," she added before heading inside with her, leaving Jo with her eyes a little wider than usual. 

When they did make it inside, Yaz greeted Grace, Graham and Ryan before putting her gifts under the tree. Jo was practically bouncing around her as she did. "She's on a sugar high," Ryan explained. 

"I'm not complaining," Yaz replied when Jo leapt to her side and kissed her cheek before hugging her again. 

"Can we open them yet?" Jo asked Grace when she came in the room with tea for them all.

The older woman chuckled, "we made her wait until you arrived Yaz."

"So  _ that _ 's why she's so excited about my arrival," Yaz laughed.

"Should've seen her staring out the window for the last half hour," Graham added. "Come on then, sit down and Ryan will hand 'em out." 

Ryan looked over to him, "why me?" 

"You're closest. Plus Yaz is our guest and Jo might break something." 

They all laughed at that, well, except Jo who pouted. Yaz floor pity and gave her a quick kiss before guiding her to the couch to sit down. 

Present were handed out and everyone opened them individually. Jo really was like a kid, ripping the paper off every gift and giving everyone huge hugs to thank them. Yaz had got her some new lounging clothes, a pair of trainers Jo had told her she liked and a personalised tree decoration with their names etched in and the date they first met. Jo almost cried at that one. 

Yaz laughed at the first present from Jo - a pack of brightly coloured socks. Apparently hers were too boring. Then there was a beautiful oversized jumper, which Yaz realised was printed with one of the patterns from Jo's art book she'd shown her. Yaz did cry at that one. Then she had to reassure Jo they were happy tears. 

Grace did a buffet tea around 6pm and they put on a Christmas film to watch while they ate. Yaz wasn’t very hungry, so she just had a small plate and then lay with her head on Jo’s shoulder while the blonde ate her way through a rather large slice of yule log. When the film finished, Ryan disappeared to set up his new console while Grace and Graham cleared up in the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone in the lounge. 

“Did you wanna go back to mine for a little bit? Kinda fancy some privacy,” Jo dropped a kiss to Yaz’s lips when she looked up. 

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go and say goodbye,” she reluctantly pushed herself back up to get off the sofa. Jo huffed at the idea of moving, despite it being her idea. Yaz rolled her eyes, taking hold of her girlfriend’s good hand and pulling her up, forcing her to stand and almost knock Yaz over in the process. “You’re a literal child Jo Smith.” 

“Yep!” Jo grinned. 

They walked together into the kitchen, “we’re gonna head off now. Thank you so much for everything today,” Yaz told Grace and Graham. 

“You are most welcome, both of you. It’s been a pleasure to have you over,” Grace smiled at them. “See you Sunday at the café Jo?” the artist nodded, having offered to work that day. “Pop in whenever you want Yaz, you and Bill are always welcome.” 

“We certainly will. Thanks Grace,” Yaz smiled. 

Once they’d finished in the kitchen, they both went upstairs to find Ryan. “Hey we’re off,” Jo called to him. Ryan appeared from behind the TV where he’d been plugging wires in. 

“Not gonna play call of duty with me first?” he asked. Yaz thought he was being serious and looked at Jo.

“You know I don’t like guns Ryan Sinclair,” Jo frowned, but Ryan grinned. “Ergh you’re a pain in the ass.” 

Now he laughed, “ah you’re so easy to wind up it’s great. Go on, go home. Yaz can handle your sugar come down. If you manage it well, let me know the secret.” 

“I’m not sure you’ll wanna know,” Yaz winked. 

Ryan grimaced, “ewww no get out of here.” 

The girls laughed, quickly hugging him a proper goodbye before going back downstairs. Grabbing their bags, they head out. Having both arrived in separate cars, they head to Jo’s independently. 

When Yaz parks up, she goes back to her boot and grabs a small box, slipping it in her handbag and then going to meet Jo inside. Inside the flat, Jo quickly went around a lit a few candles, turned on her tree lights and flicked the radio on. "There! That's better." Yaz smiled, standing in the doorway to the living area. "You can come in you know?" Jo added.

"I know, just admiring the scene," Yaz replied, but did step into the room and head over to Jo, slipping her arms round the blonde's waist under her jacket and kissing her softly. "I could get used to this." 

"Me too," Jo replied. "Which is why I have another present for you," she suddenly disappeared from Yaz's arms and grabbed a wrapped box from under the tree. They both sat down on the sofa and then Jo handed the box to her girlfriend. "I wanted to give you this in private." Yaz raised an eyebrow at her. "No not like that! Just open it and you'll see." 

Yaz carefully unwrapped the box. She could see Jo fidgeting nervously beside her. Once the paper was off she opened it and saw a key inside. "I already have a key to your place. I mean I know I don't really use it but-"

"It's not to mine, it's not to anywhere that I know of. It's… more of a symbol," Jo reached inside and pulled out the key - that's when Yaz realised it was on a chain. "Maybe it's a bit soon, I don't know, but I want to get out of this flat. It symbolises the worst period of my life, and I kinda miss having a house. I was sort of hoping we could look together? Get a place of our own?"

"You're asking me to move in with you?" Yaz asked, a little shocked.

Jo nodded, "yes. But not here, I want somewhere that's ours. If you want to, that is." 

Carefully, Yaz took the key from Jo and held it in her hand. "I'd love to." 

"Really?" 

"Yes, really," Yaz smiled. "Put this on for me?" 

Jo took the key back again. Yaz turned around, moving her hair so Jo could put the chain around her neck and do the clasp. She faced Jo again, smiling and taking her hand. "I'm so glad you said yes or that would've been so awkward," Jo chuckled a little nervously. 

In response, the police officer cupped her girlfriend’s face with her hands, moving in to show her how much it meant. She pressed a soft kiss to her lips and let their foreheads rest together. "I love you so much Jo, the thought of waking up with you everyday is the happiest thought I've had all year." 

They stayed like that for a while, just taking each other in and committing the moment to memory. Eventually, Yaz broke the silence. "This makes my present for you a little anticlimactic, but I do have something I wanted to give you in private too." She finally sat up and reached over for her bag, opening it and pulling out the present, handing it to Jo. 

Unlike earlier, Jo took more care unwrapping this one. Maybe because she was still calm from their moment, or maybe because she sensed this was a little more precious. Yaz watched on as she did, waiting for her to open it. Jo gasped. "Yaz…" Inside was, coincidentally, a necklace. This one however was engraved with their first initials on a heart. There was a small diamond in the middle. "It's beautiful." Jo removed it and handed it to Yaz to place on her carefully, then she lifted her hand to it. "Y'know I'm never taking this off again right?" 

"Kinda what I was hoping," Yaz smiled and sat back on the sofa, "I can't quite get over how bright that suit is." 

"S'great isn't it?" Jo grinned and joined her girlfriend in relaxing back. 

Yaz scrunched her face up a little. "That's one word for it yeah," she replied before giggling at her girlfriend’s immediate shock. "You do look hot in a suit though." 

"Not as hot as you do in that," Jo replied. "I was definitely not prepared earlier."

"I gathered that," Yaz smirked. "Glad you appreciate it. I did buy it specially."

Feeling her mouth go a little dry, Jo moved yet again, hovering slightly next to Yaz for a few seconds before closing the gap between them. Eventually they had to break for air. "Want to go somewhere more comfortable?" Jo asked. 

Yaz could only nod. 

* * *

There was a small break in the curtain that let in the winter sun. Yaz figured that was what woke her the next morning. She looked down and saw Jo's arm draped over her stomach and smiled. Then it dawned on her - she'd never told her family she wasn't going home that night. 

Shit.

Trying not to panic and wake the sleeping woman next to her, she reached for her phone to see 2 missed calls from her Mum, but then there was a text from Sonya.

_ Sonya [23.14]: Covered for you, told em you text me to say you were staying over. Hope I'm right and you're not dead in a ditch x  _

_ Sonya [23.16]: Mum is still convinced you're seeing Ryan btw.  _

Yaz let out the breath she had been holding, at least they hadn't spent all night trying to contact her. 

_ Yaz [10.23]: Cheers Son, I owe you one.  _

She didn't respond to the comment on Ryan. Instead she turned over carefully so she was face to face with Jo. This was going to be her life soon, waking up with her girlfriend. Yaz reached up to the key that was still around her neck, fiddling with it while watching her sleep. This continued for about half an hour until Jo finally stirred. "Morning sleepyhead," she kissed the tip of her nose softly. 

"Have you been watching me sleep?" Jo mumbled, still not quite fully awake. 

"Mhm, you're cute," Yaz replied.

"M'not cute," Jo huffed, finally opening her eyes properly. She moved her arm to place a hand in Yaz's hair, running it through. "I love it when your hair's down. S'all curly and beautiful." 

"Pain in the butt to handle though," Yaz replied. "We should probably get up." 

That prompted a groan in response from the blonde. "It's boxing day, can't we just lie in bed all day, eat leftovers and pretend the outside world isn't there?"

"We could, but Donna is coming over in 2 hours," Yaz pointed out. Another groan. "Hey, you invited her!"

"Remind me why again?"

"Because she's your friend, agent and has done a lot to get this gallery opening sorted the last few weeks," Yaz replied. 

Jo sighed, "there is that I suppose. Still don't want to leave bed though - it's cold and I'm naked."

Yaz laughed at the statement, but it was a nice reminder of the previous night. Their first time sleeping together on Christmas day - how cliché can you get? "Fine, I'll shower first then you can have an extra few minutes. That's the best I can offer." 

After a little more negotiation involving 2 kisses, pancakes for breakfast and a promise of cuddles on the couch after Donna had gone, Yaz coaxed her girlfriend out of bed and went to make breakfast. While she was doing so her phone started ringing. 

_ Mum  _

After a deep breath, she picked her phone up from the side and answered it. "Hey Mum."

"Morning Yasmin." 

Uh oh. 

"How come you text your sister and didn't answer the phone to me last night?" Straight to the point then.

Yaz flipped the pancake over in the pan, having to rest her phone between her ear and shoulder. "Sorry, it all happened quite quick last night. We got carried away chatting and Grace didn't want me driving home that late." 

"Are you coming home this morning then?" Najia questioned. 

"Uh… no…" she was beginning to run out of excuses. "We aren't doing anything are we?" Suddenly Yaz wondered if she'd forgotten anything.

"No, you're just being very secretive Yaz, I can tell when you're not being completely honest with me - I am your mother."Najia replied. Yaz sighed, just as Jo walked into the kitchen. 

Sensing her girlfriend was a little on edge, Jo made her way over, taking the frying pan off the heat slipping an arm around her. Yaz immediately hugged into her. "Do we have to do this now?" She asked her Mum. 

"It is Ryan isn't it," her Mum replied and Yaz let out a groan of frustration. "Okay, not Ryan, but there is someone I can tell."

Yaz was shaking now. Jo squeezed her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head before whispering, "it's okay. I'm right here." 

"Fine, yes, there is someone. There's been someone for a while now. We've been keeping it very quiet, but it's serious. I love her." 

The last sentence had been quieter, but Najia had clearly heard it. "She?"

"Yeah Mum, she's a she. Her name is Jo, she's the most wonderful woman I've ever met, and I love her." Yaz reiterated her point. 

There was a pause that was long enough to make Yaz tear up with nerves. Jo kissed her head again and held her close to remind Yaz she was still there. "Well then," Najia finally spoke again, "you'd better let us know when you're bringing her round for dinner." 

Being close enough to the phone, Jo heard that and her eyes widened slightly, but Yaz couldn't see. Instead, Yaz was in a shock of her own. "Wait, you're not mad?" 

"Why would I be mad? Surprised maybe, but not mad. Yasmin you're my daughter. If you love this woman, then I want to meet her. She's clearly made you happy. I'm sorry you felt you couldn't tell us," Najia told her.

Yaz felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders as her mother spoke. "I'm sorry I lied, there was a lot going on and there's still a lot to explain but maybe in person." Then suddenly, the phone was no longer in her hand and Jo leapt away from her with a wide grin. "JO!"

"Hi Yaz's Mum, didn't mean to listen in. Was just givin' your wonderful daughter a hug. I'd love to meet you all, I think we have a lot to explain," Jo smiled reassuringly at Yaz, not that she found it very reassuring. 

"Oh, hello Jo. Well you would be most welcome, how about you both come for lunch tomorrow?" Najia was a little shocked, but took the opportunity. 

"Tomorrow it is! Can't wait. Text Yaz a time and we'll be there. Hope you don't mind, we'd better get going, busy day,” Jo replied, all while Yaz was glaring at her and trying to decide how her mother was going to react.

Thankfully, she was fine. “Absolutely, won’t keep you. See you both tomorrow.” With that, she hung up. 

Jo smiled at Yaz, who was trying to work it all out. “Sorted.” 

“I- why did you- what just happened?” Yaz asked. 

“Well it saved you having to do that awkward thing of trying to know what I want to do and what your Mum wants to do, ya know? Plus I think we need to explain ourselves now it’s out in the open,” Jo handed the phone back to her. “I haven’t upset you have I?” 

Yaz shook her head, “no, that was just… a lot. I’m okay though, honestly.” She put her phone in her pocket. “Thank you for being there. I’ll sort the pancakes now. I did make a promise, after all," Yaz kissed her, thinking about how lucky she had gotten. It had been the most wonderful Christmas period already, and it wasn't even over yet. 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter? Yes it is. I'm shook too. Here goes nothing...

Donna came for the afternoon with her husband. Yaz found she got on rather well with the agent, and most of the talk was less business and more pleasure. She was quite nosey - but Jo had warned her about that. It was a nice enough afternoon with a few giggles and laughs, but they were now on the sofa, full of food and now watching Love Actually. 

Jo was coming down from another sugar high after far too much yule log, so she was lying with her head in Yaz’s lap while the police officer stroked her hair gently. Yaz wasn’t really focussed much on the film, which was probably why she jumped so much when the front door buzzer went off. “I didn’t think there was anyone else due tonight?” 

“There isn’t,” Jo sat up and looked around at the phone on the wall with a slight anxiety.

“Do you want me to go?” Yaz asked, and the blonde nodded. Shifting slightly into police officer mode, she went over and answered it. “Hello?” 

“Oh sorry, I’m looking for Jo Smith - is this her flat? My name’s Martha,” came the voice at the other end.

It took her a second, but it clicked. “Martha Jones - from the hospital right? You’ve got the right flat. Come on up,” she clicked the button to open the door and returned to the sofa, “did you hear that?” 

Jo nodded, “yeah. Just didn’t expect her to come round, we’ve text a few times but she’s been busy so haven’t met up since everything started kicking off.” 

The following knock at the door was obviously expected, and Jo went to answer it this time. “What are you doing here?!” Jo asked excitedly when she opened the door, embracing Martha briefly. 

“Well it’s already been too long again, and it’s Christmas so… here,” she handed a small bag over. “Plus I just finished work and this place is on my route home. I sense we also have a  _ lot  _ to catch up on,” she glanced behind Jo at where Yaz was standing waiting. “Good to see you again PC Khan.” 

“Please, Yaz is fine. This is a far less formal situation,” Yaz smiled and went to join Jo’s side. “I’ll go put the kettle on, you two can go and sit down.” 

While she went into the kitchen. Jo showed Martha through to sit in the lounge. “So, bagged yourself a police officer then?” Martha joked as they sat down. “Good for you mate, she seems lovely. I know you talked fondly of her before.” 

Jo nodded, “She’s the best thing to ever happen to me. I asked her to move in with me yesterday. Well, we’re gonna get somewhere together. This place is tinged with sadness, I need a fresh start.” 

“I’m really pleased for you mate, a fresh start is exactly what you need,” Martha told her. “You seem so much happier than when I last saw you.” 

“S’all down to Yaz,” Jo shrugged. “Anyway, how are you?” 

They chatted. Yaz brought tea in, but told Jo she’d leave them to it and call her Mum about their impending lunch the following day. Martha wasn’t going to let that one go. “So, meeting the relatives?” 

Jo nodded, “I kinda threw myself into it too, now I’m terrified. Yaz is more scared though, so I gotta stay strong for her. She won’t really talk about it, but it’s been hard for her to tell them about us. I just want to show them how much I care about their daughter.” 

“Never thought I would see a soft Jo Smith,” Martha chuckled. “Jo, just be yourself mate. No point pretending to be someone you’re not. Yaz loves you for  _ you  _ remember.” 

“You’ve always been the voice of reason Martha Jones, thank you. Now how do I be myself without scaring off her parents?” she asked sincerely. 

Martha laughed.

* * *

Yaz struggled to sleep that night, but she spent the time watching Jo sleep instead, reminding herself how lucky she was. Whatever happened with her family, she loved the woman in her arms and nobody could change her mind on that. Nevertheless, she loved her family too and really wanted them to like Jo. 

When Jo woke up, she was alone in the bed. She sat up, concerned where Yaz had disappeared to. When she’d assessed the room, and realised the other side was cold so she’d been done for a while, Jo grabbed her robe from the floor where she’d thrown it last night (much to Yaz’s disgust), and went out. Her girlfriend was sitting on the sofa with her knees up to her chest and a mug in her hands, staring at the TV which wasn’t on. She walked over and sat beside her, “what’s up darlin’?” 

Instinctively, Yaz leant her head on Jo’s shoulder. “Couldn’t sleep.” 

“Nervous about today?” Jo asked, but she already knew the answer before Yaz nodded her head. “Anything I can do to help?” 

“Can we go to the café in the park for breakfast? I need to get out.” 

Jo smiled, “of course we can - my treat. I’ll go and get ready,” she kissed Yaz gently before going back. 

It didn’t take Jo long to get ready. Yaz got up and rinsed her mug out before chucking her hair up to get it under control. By that point, Jo had reappeared and they both got their coats on before heading out. It wasn’t a long walk to the park, and they generally walked in silence. It was bitterly cold outside, so the warmth of the café was welcome when they arrived. Thankfully there weren’t many people inside so they could pick a nice table by the window, looking out over the lake. Jo popped up and ordered what had scarily quickly become their usual order, returning to the table with a tea for Yaz and a deluxe hot chocolate for herself. 

Yaz smiled a thank you, but it was brief. She stared into her tea, watching the still spinning water from where it had been stirred. “I’ve been conflicted all night. All the potential outcomes for today running through my mind.” 

“Do you think your parents might not like me then?” Jo asked, trying not to come across as nervous as she really was.

“No!” Yaz shook her head quickly, “not like that. They just… need to accept this.” 

Jo reached over to take her hand across the table. “ I properly, properly love you. I’m going to show that to your parents.” 

“Whatever happens today, I’ll always want you Jo. I want you to know that, my parents aren’t going to take you away from me,” Yaz told her.

“Let’s not assume anything, they might love me. I am very lovable,” Jo grinned at Yaz who had to chuckle at her goofy face. “It was your Mum that suggested meeting me, remember, you said that conversation went well.” 

“It did! It did, but in person… that’s just a whole different scenario. Plus I didn’t speak to my Dad and yesterday Mum was really weird with me on the phone. I dunno, it’s just new and terrifying and I’m just so glad you’re the one here with me.”

Responding with a small squeeze of her hand, Jo made sure they were making eye contact before she spoke again. “Let’s just take it one step at a time. First, let’s enjoy breakfast. When we get back to the flat, we’ll think about what we do next.” 

“Okay, yeah, one step at a time.” 

So they did. They had a lovely breakfast in the end, eating and discussing the best bits of Christmas. Yaz was back to work tomorrow, so this was essentially their last day together before new years. They walked back to the flat and reorganised themselves for going over to Yaz’s family. Jo sat cross legged on the bed while Yaz packed her stuff up. “M’gonna miss you being here,” she grumbled. 

“Before you know it I’ll be here all the time. Well, not here, but you know what I mean,” she paused quickly, kneeling up from the floor to kiss her. Jo took that as an opportunity and pulled Yaz up onto the bed and close, deepening the kiss. “We’re gonna be late if you keep distracting me,” Yaz argued, but didn’t pull away. 

“You are so addictive though,” Jo sighed contentedly. They’d fallen back, lying horizontally across the bed in each other’s arms. “S’gonna be four days before I get to hold you again.” 

Between Yaz’s day shifts, and Jo’s evening meetings with Donna, there wasn’t going to be anytime until new year’s eve for them to see each other - except maybe a possible passing in the café. “But the next time I see you it’s going to be at your gallery opening, and I can’t wait for that.” 

“You ready to blend in with the crowd?” Jo grinned. 

“Honestly I can’t wait, we can see everyone’s reactions and they’ll have no idea. It’s amazing to think all those people see you at every opening and have no idea,” Yaz gently stroked Jo’s side. 

Jo smiled, “I can’t wait to show you everything in place,” she replied. “You’re the one that got me back here. This one’s all for you.” 

“Don’t you be making me emotional now,” Yaz grumbled. “I really need to finish packing.” 

“Mmm fine, but just this once,” Jo smiled and let her out.

* * *

An hour later they had arrived at Yaz’s flat. Jo insisted on carrying her case - which was actually Jo’s case, given Yaz hadn’t actually taken much with her, to the door. She went to unlock it, but her Mum was already there. “Well that was a long evening,” she joked and hugged Yaz quickly. 

“I’ve already apologised, it really wasn’t planned,” Yaz smiled apologetically. “Mum this is Jo,” Yaz moved to reveal Jo stood behind her. 

“Hi Yaz’s Mum,” Jo grinned enthusiastically. “Great to meet you.” 

Before Yaz could intervene, Jo was over and hugging her Mum. Yaz was about to say something when she noticed her Mum’s expression change from shock to a smile and she returned the hug briefly. “Lovely to meet you too, especially when Yaz’s source of happiness has been a mystery for so long.” 

Jo stepped back, nodding. “Sorry about that, lots of reasons. Taking it slow ya know how it is.” 

“Perfectly understandable,” Najia replied. “Well let’s get you both inside properly. Your father is making lunch,” she explained. When Jo was a couple of steps ahead, “I think he’s going to grill the poor girl to death.” 

Yaz shook her head, “don’t worry. Jo’ll be fine.” 

They followed through to find Jo already talking animatedly with her Dad. “Great choice this one Yaz, she says she can take that blasted thing apart for me,” he gestured toward the smart speaker on the side. 

“She can?” Yaz asked, raising an eyebrow at Jo.

“Full of surprises me,” Jo grinned. “Lunch smells great Yaz’s Dad. Um, where should I put this?” she lifted up the case. 

“Oh, let me show you,” Yaz replied, and they went back to her bedroom. “Please don’t judge, I’ve barely changed it since I was 15. No need to now anyway,” she shrugged. 

Jo walked in, looking around. “It’s cute. Love this little look into your past. But you can decorate our place anyway you like,” she smiled, putting the case down. “Told you your parents would love me.” 

“Yeah yeah, show off,” she chuckled and kissed her. 

“Nerves a bit better now?” Jo asked, squeezing her hand. 

Yaz nodded, “so much. Just… please don’t take Alexa apart with my Dad. Think my Mum will go spare.” 

“Spoiling all the fun.” she huffed. 

“Are you two making out in there or what?” A voice came from the corridor. 

Yaz groaned, “that would be my sister. Come on, hope you’re ready for this.” 

Sure enough, Sonya had joined her parents in the living area and was sitting at the table prepared for confrontation. Maybe her Mum had underestimated who would be doing the grilling. “So the outfit worked a treat then?”

Yaz scowled, “Sonya!” 

“What outfit?” Hakim asked from his cooking station. 

Jo took a moment to put two and two together, “oh! What you wore on Christmas? Did your sister help with it? Was proper gorgeous that.” 

While Sonya was smirking in the corner, Yaz could feel her cheeks warming. “I jus’ wanted to wear somethin’ special, and I don’t really have any  _ nice  _ clothes so Son helped me choose an outfit s’all. And now she won’t shut up about it.” 

“Well you obviously have a great sister,” Jo replied. “Something smells great over there, what are we having?” 

Thankfully, Hakim took to the bait and started talking about his recipe. Jo seemed to listen intently, while Yaz quickly zoned out and instead started to assess her family’s current moods. Her Dad seemed to be getting on with Jo like a house on fire, which surprised Yaz - but then the more she thought about it, maybe it shouldn’t. Her Mum was smiling wildly at her, but still with just a hint of reservation. Sonya, meanwhile, was still sitting pleased with herself in the corner. Only when she turned her attention back did Yaz realise Jo had snuck an arm around her waist. Yaz smiled, returning the gesture and resting gently against her.

In the end, most of the period before lunch was spent with Yaz listening to conversations between Jo and her parents. They were mostly lighthearted, and generally Jo asking the questions for now which seemed to be working quite well.

When they sat down for lunch, however, the questioning reversed. “So what do you do then Jo?” 

“I’m self-employed, accounting mostly. Although had a few months out for personal reasons. Yaz has been helping me get back to work though, she's been ace," Jo smiled. Yaz enjoyed her cover story, it wasn’t entirely implausible - Yaz had believed it for long enough after all. Although accountancy was a new addition - she’d question her on that later. 

Najia nodded, “sounds interesting. So what was it that you wanted to talk to us about?” 

So that’s why her Mum was still acting off. Yaz and Jo shared a look, and Jo nodded to her. “I didn’t tell you everything about what happened when I was arrested.” 

“Y’said there was a problem involving a friend?” Hakim said.

Jo put her hand up, “that’d be me.” She looked to Yaz who gestured for her to continue. “My ex, she’s… well, she’s just been charged with a lot of things. I found her cheating almost a year ago now, so I left. Then she burned the house down - except we’ve never proved that. Now she’s back and when she worked out the link between Yaz and myself, she used that.” 

The silence was terrifying. Yaz reached for Jo’s hand under the table. “It’s not Jo’s fault, she’s been equally affected. Everything sorted now, she won’t be a problem again.” 

Najia looked directly at Yaz. “Jo makes you happy?” 

“More than I have been in years,” Yaz replied honestly. 

Najia turned to Jo, “you’ll look after her?” 

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else,” Jo told her sincerely. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, Najia’s face returned to a smile. “Then I’m very pleased for you both.” 

Releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding, Yaz smiled back at her Mum. “Thanks Mum. We’re actually looking for a place together in the new year.” 

“What?!” 

* * *

It took a while to appease her parent’s concerns about her moving out, but Jo was exceedingly helpful. In fact as the day progressed it was clear her whole family - Sonya included - were enjoying her company. Yaz couldn’t remember who had suggested playing cards - maybe her Dad - but either way they were now playing. It was Jo’s turn, and she was thinking hard about it. Yaz chuckled a little at her tongue poking out the side slightly, before she sat up dramatically pulling out a card and slamming it down. “Snap!” 

Yaz had to hold back her laughter, “babe we’re not playing snap.” 

“Aren’t we?” she questioned. “Well we should be.” 

Najia did chuckle slightly, “never mind love.” She collected all the cards up. “I’ve gotta get off to work. Probably be back just as you’re heading out in the morning so I’ll catch you then,” she told Yaz. “And it’s been a pleasure to meet you Jo. I hope you’ll be round again soon.” 

“Oh definitely will Yaz’s Mum, you make great tea. Have a great time at work,” she grinned. 

Once Najia had left for work, Sonya retreated to her room and Hakim quickly made himself scarce to do the washing up, leaving Jo and Yaz on the sofa. “Well I think that went quite well,” Jo commented, draping her arm over Yaz’s shoulders. The younger woman moved her arm to link their fingers. 

Yaz smiled, "it did. Although I have to ask - why accounting?" 

"Oh! Well that's my usual go to. I do actually have a degree in it, sometimes I dabble for a bit of fun you know," she shrugged. "So how are you feeling now?"

“Happier than I’ve ever been,” Yaz smiled. “New Year’s Day, let’s start looking for houses. I want to be living with you as soon as I can.” 

“Deal,” Jo smiled and quickly stole a kiss. “Although I don’t really care where we move, as long as you’re there.” 

“Cute, but I want a garden.” 

“You can have my-” 

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence Jo.” 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the end? It's crazy. I do have plans for another AU, but I haven't actually started writing it yet so I don't know when I'll publish it. Fingers crossed it won't be long! 
> 
> Jo and Yaz have been a dream to write, and this felt like the perfect place to end. Who knows, maybe I'll come back with something from their future in time, but for now - thank you for reading and enjoy the final installment.

December 31st. New Years’ Eve. Jo had spent the previous evening getting everything perfect at the gallery. Donna always worked it so they could go in out of hours - that way nobody saw Jo for who she was. That did, however, mean today she was just waiting. So far she’d re-organised her bedroom 3 times, cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, vacuumed the skirting boards (who ever does that anyway?) and read two books. Yaz was at work, and busy, so she hadn’t been able to talk to her much. Occasionally Donna would send her a nagging message to remember her fake ID for the night. It just meant she could get in and pretend to be press. Thankfully, Donna had remembered to put a plus one on the invite too and Yaz was meeting her outside at twenty past eight. 

The whole evening was planned to the minute - as was Donna’s way. The invite list was very specific, and the event would run through until one in the morning to encompass the new year. There were even fireworks planned for the turn of the year, viewed from the gallery roof. Two rooms made up the display. One containing a variety of artwork she had created, a mixture of new and older pieces, including those that Yaz had helped her pick out. The second room would be completely new material, her canvases that altogether created a picture, but were split around the room to give a different feel. Jo had been very specific about their placement, even insisting a clock was moved to ensure her canvas could be in the right position. In the centre of that room, with a spotlight highlighting it, was a special piece.

There would be around 30 journalists there from all over the country, plus some bringing partners, a variety of art critics and some members of the public who had entered a draw to attend. That, however, is not what scared her. What scared Jo was that she had designed this whole show around one person, and that person would be right by her side tonight. She didn’t care what would be in the papers or plastered on social media, she just wanted Yaz to like it. This would be her first proper insight into Jo’s life, there was so much she simply couldn’t understand until she saw it. 

Jo flopped down on her bed, there was still at least two hours before she needed to start getting ready and she had no idea what to do with herself. She stared at the ceiling, trying to decide how to fill the next couple of hours. Eventually she decided there was only one thing for it and stood up, grabbing her keys and coat and heading out of the door. 

Shortly after, she pushed open the door to the café, smiling a little when the bell tinkled above her. She found the sound surprisingly reassuring. “How can I- oh, hello love, didn’t expect to see you today.” Grace immediately started making tea for her

“M’bored,” she sighed. “Couldn’t think of any more ways to change the bedroom.” 

Grace nodded, “there are a limited number,” she commented. “Nervous about tonight? I remember how you used to get.” 

She perched on the stool by the counter, “yeah. S’a big one y’know? Feels like more pressure because I’ve been so quiet.” 

“And?” Grace asked, sliding the tea across the counter to her. 

Damn this woman for knowing her so well. “I’m scared Yaz isn’t gonna like it.” 

“You mean the girl who spent hours watching you paint not that long ago?” Grace asked. 

She had a point, but still. “S’different though. This is an insight into my life like no other, and I’ve designed most of it around her too, I don’t want to mess this up.” 

“Yaz adores you Jo, as long as you’re there, and it’s your art, she will love every second. Stop fretting, drink that tea and I might fetch you a slice of the chocolate cake.” 

* * *

Yaz had been wishing her shift away, and it was a busy one, but somehow it still seemed to go on forever. “What’s got into you today?” Bill asked. 

“Hm?” Yaz was pulled back from her thoughts. “Oh, nothing, just… well - first new years with Jo, just been thinking about it.”

“No need to show off,” Bill tutted. “Just ‘cause some of us will be alone.”    


Chuckling, Yaz patted her shoulder as they walked down the road on patrol. “Sorry mate, maybe next year will be your year.” 

“Not patronising at all,” she huffed jokingly. “Nah I’m happy for you, honestly. You deserved a good ending to the year. Going anywhere nice to see it in?” 

“Well apparently Jo does art reviews for some website, and they’ve invited her to the opening of The Doctor’s exhibition, so she’s taking me as her plus one,” Yaz explained calmly. 

Bill stopped and looked directly at her, “you serious?! That’s like the hottest ticket in town tonight. Bloody hell Yaz.”

Yaz shrugged, “I know, Dad’s so jealous. I dunno what it’ll be like with Jo having to make notes constantly, but I’m quite looking forward to it. The atmosphere should be incredible.” 

They continued on walking, but Bill was still in some kind of shock at this new information. “Please tell me you’re wearing something fit.”

“Sonya worked her magic again,” Yaz nodded. “I’m awful at dressing myself for anything other than a night on the sofa. Apparently I’m now relying on my little sister.” 

Bill laughed, “oh Yaz that’s not ideal. Y’know I’m always up for a shopping trip.” 

“You don’t usually strike me as the shopping kind Bill,” Yaz replied. 

“I make exceptions for making my friend look hot,” she told her. “Hit me up next time.” 

“Duly noted,” Yaz smiled and they continued on. Only 2 hours left of her shift. 

* * *

The whole ride to the gallery Jo was nervously playing with a fidget toy that Ryan had got her for Christmas. Jo hadn’t appreciated how useful it was until now. She had a black pinstripe suit, including waistcoat, on. The waistcoat was fairly deep cut, and she’d eventually decided not to put anything on underneath, instead opting for a fairy long necklace. She felt good. 

When she pulled up, she could see Yaz waiting for her. Jo almost stopped breathing when she saw her long, skin hugging red dress with a shrug over her for warmth. Her hair was loose, hanging down one side. Eventually she remembered to pay the driver and get out of the taxi, walking over. “Wow, you look incredible.” 

Yaz hadn’t spotted Jo until she started talking. “Hi- oh… wow, so do you. Aren’t you cold with all that skin on show?” she smirked a little and placed a hand on Jo’s bare chest area.

“Well not anymore,” Jo smiled and leaned in, kissing her softly. “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

“Mmm me too, but we should get inside before we both freeze to death,” Yaz smiled, moving to take her hand as they both walked into the gallery. Jo showed her ID and invite to the man on the door and they walked through the metal detectors separately before reuniting on the other side. 

Jo guided them into a room they had been sent to, which was simply a place to congregate before being taken into the galleries. There were drinks and nibbles set out, so Jo grabbed 2 glasses, handing one to Yaz and then immediately made her way to the food table - because of course she did. “Great food here, s’the main reason I come to be honest.” 

“Not surprised, your reviews are always shocking,” came a man’s voice from behind then. Yaz was confused, but Jo turned around confidently. 

“Reginald, good to see you again,” she greeted him. “Yaz this is Reginald Greasley, art critic for the Times.” 

The man huffed, sipping his wine. “Otherwise known as a proper job.” 

“He doesn’t appreciate the appeal of a modern website,” Jo told Yaz calmly. “We agree to disagree.” 

“I didn’t agree to anything,” Reginald replied.

Jo shrugged, “well I do anyway.” 

“You just can’t appreciate the intricacy of this art. The Doctor is a marvel in his field, it’s more than someone like you can understand,” he spoke firmly.

“Well I look forward to reading your review so I can educate myself further,” Jo replied. Once again the man huffed and turned on his heels to walk away from them. Only once he was out of earshot did Jo speak again. “Now you know why I enjoy this so much.” 

Yaz chuckled, “yeah well, maybe you need to learn to appreciate the intricacy Jo.” 

“Clearly,” Jo grinned. “Shouldn’t be long before Donna’s speech now.” 

Jo had filled her in on how the night would run previously. “Can’t wait,” Yaz replied and slipped an arm around her waist. “I can’t believe all these people are here.” 

“Mmm and that’s not even the public, they’ll arrive later,” Jo pointed out. “It’s kinda daunting the first time, I get that. My first show I almost ran out again, but Donna persuaded me to stay.” 

“I’m glad she did. Look at you, this is incredible,” Yaz smiled.

Before Jo could reply, there was a noise from behind them signifying that Donna was about to speak. They turned around and saw the agent in front of the mic on stage. “Good evening all, it is lovely to see you here tonight. I’m well aware this event has been long awaited, but all I’ll say is that  _ The Doctor  _ had to take some time out. But now they’re back, better than ever and you’re in for a wonderful evening.” 

Jo was pretending to take notes, but Yaz noticed she was actually doodling on the paper. Donna continued to talk about some of the concepts behind the show and a reminder of the timetable for the evening, which Yaz sort of listened to, but she was also watching her girlfriend intently, unable to take her eyes off her. She was beautiful.

Finally, when Donna had stopped talking, which took a while, they were led through to the galleries, where everyone was then free to roam. When Yaz walked into the first room, she gasped. “Seeing it all in one room like this is incredible.” Jo watched as she took it all in. “Wow.”

“You’ve seen most of this lot before,” Jo pointed out. 

“Mmm true, but this is different,” Yaz smiled. “Wanna be my personal tour guide?” 

Agreeing, Jo took her round every piece and explained everything someone who wasn’t the artist could know - just in case people were listening. Yaz listened to every word, hanging on each sentence Jo said. It took a while to get round the room, but she didn’t get bored or look away once. “There’s still another room to go yet, you need a break?” Jo asked, but Yaz simply shook her head. 

“I could listen to you talk about art all night, and I fully intend to do so. Let’s go through, this is the room everyone’s talking about after all,” Yaz smiled and followed her in. 

Jo took a deep breath, this was the room she was nervous about. “Alright then, let’s go. I’ve got a plan for this one though, do you trust me?” 

“Always,” Yaz told her and took her hand. 

“Alright, turn left through the door and don’t look behind you. Enjoy the rest of the room as much as you like though, like Donna said - all the pieces make one big picture. It’s there to be enjoyed. Take your time.” 

Jo followed behind as Yaz walked through the door and, as instructed, immediately turned left. Then she gasped again, looking around at all the paintings. They were spread across the walls and the ceiling, and Yaz couldn’t stop looking around. “Is it…?” It was all coming together in her mind. “It’s the view from the top of the hill I took you isn’t it?” She spoke quietly so nobody could hear her. They’d gone there after their visit to the zoo to watch the sunset. Ended up spending the night up there, only leaving after the sun rose.

“It’s the exact night sky from that night,” Jo whispered back to her. “It was the moment I realised I loved you and I never wanted to let you go.” 

It was the most romantic thing she’d ever experienced. If it wasn’t for the surroundings, she’d have pulled Jo in for the biggest of kisses. Instead, she settled for looking at her in shock. “This is incredible.” 

“This is all down to you, Yasmin Khan. You are the reason this happened,” Jo took her hand again. “Ready for one last surprise?” 

“I have no idea, but go on then,” she replied. Jo slowly turned around with her. “My favourite piece in the gallery.” 

In that moment, it was like the world around them stopped. It was just the two of them in the room. Yaz stared at the spotlit canvas on that wall. It was the piece they’d made together. At the time she had loved it, but she had no idea where the idea had come from in Jo’s mind. Now it made sense. This was them, that night. It symbolised their whole relationship, but that was also the moment just before they left the hill that night. Jo nervously looked to Yaz and immediately spotted the tear rolling down her cheek. “Is- is it okay?” 

“Okay?! Jo this is perfect,” Yaz quickly wiped at her cheek. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered. “All this… all of this…” 

“S’all for you,” Jo smiled. “Come on, let’s get out of here for a bit,” she replied and guided Yaz out and up to the roof. Thankfully nobody else had come up here yet. Also thankfully, there were heaters placed up here. “Now we can talk properly.” 

Before Jo could say anything else, Yaz had placed her hands on her cheeks and pulled Jo in for a kiss. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“What? Organised a whole art event under the disguise of bringing back my alter ego just to impress my incredible girlfriend? You bet I just did that,” she grinned, their faces still close enough to steal a kiss when she finished talking. “The moment I knew I was back, there was only one theme for this.” 

Yaz thought for a moment, “you called this show  _ ‘A New Start’...”  _

“Yep, with you,” Jo gently tucked a stray piece of hair back. “When I started this, I had no idea what we were going to go through, but now it’s all the more meaningful. It’s like this was always meant to happen - you and me, standing on this roof, staring out at the night sky. I know I already did a huge thing asking you to move in with me, but damn it Yasmin Khan I want more than that. I want us to be together forever, I want you to know I love you always. Maybe this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done, maybe you’ll run away in a sec, but I just know I have to do this.” She let go of Yaz for a moment and dug in her inside pocket, pulling out a box and getting down on one knee. “Damn I didn’t think about how cold the floor would be,” she jumped back up and rubbed her knee quickly, before returning to the floor. “Where was I? Oh yeah,” she opened the box. 

Immediately Yaz gasped for the third time that night, jumping back slightly and looking down at her. 

“Yasmin Khan, I love you more than anything. Will you marry me? It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or next week or even next year, but I want to make this commitment. I mean if you don't that's fine I'm not trying to scare you I-” 

Yaz reached down and put a finger to Jo's lips. “Yes, you idiot, yes. Of course I will marry you." 

"Really?!" Jo looked completely shocked. 

"Yes! Put that damn ring on my finger you fool," she chuckled and held out her left hand. 

Fingers still shaking, Jo took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. “Might’ve measured your finger while you were sleeping.” 

“I can’t decide if that’s creepy or romantic,” Yaz chuckled and helped Jo to get up from the floor. Jo took her left hand and held it to admire the ring. A small diamond surrounded by rubies. They were both looking down, their heads touching as they did. “Well this evening took quite the turn.” 

“Took exactly the route I was expecting,” Jo smiled and moved them so she could hold Yaz again. 

With nothing else left to say, Yaz closed the small gap between them once more. Their kiss was only interrupted by the door to the roof opening as everyone started to pile up for midnight. Jo looked at her watch, “5 minutes to go.” 

“Next year is gonna be our year, I can feel it,” Yaz smiled. 

They watched everyone move around them into position for a few minutes, the buzz of excitement for the new year filling the air. Eventually the countdown started from 60, and they joined in together. Arms around each other and looking out at the sky. 

_ “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”  _

As the countdown reached 0 they turned to rejoin their lips for a simple New Year’s kiss. “Happy New Year Yasmin Khan.” 

“Happy New Year Jo Smith.” 

And with that simple exchange they looked back to the fireworks that had begun already. This wasn’t just a new year; this was a new beginning. 

Jo and Yaz, taking the world by storm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nah I'm not crying YOU ARE.  
> Thank you so SO much for joining me on this journey. I love these two so much. Every comment, kudos, tweet etc. has made my heart so warm. 
> 
> See you all soon :) 
> 
> Twitter: @pinkwaldd

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think !! I hope you enjoyed reading <3


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